STANDARDS   IN    EDUCATION 

.•w^""^^^ 

WITH  SOME  CONSIDERATION  OF 
THEIR  RELATION  TO 

INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING 


/          BY 

ARTHUR  HENRY  [CHAMBERLAIN,  B.S.,  A.M. 

DEAN   AND  PROFESSOR  OF    EDUCATION 
THROOP    POLYTECHNIC    INSTITUTE 


NEW  YORK  •:•  CINCINNATI    •:•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY 

ARTHUR  HENRY  CHAMBERLAIN 

ENTERED  AT  STATIONERS'  HALL,  LONDON 

W.  P.     i 


Ed.  /Psych, 
Library 

L5 


C.3S54 

INTRODUCTION 

THE  following  pages  contain  a  brief  discussion  of  the 
crucial  factors  in  modern,  particularly  in  modern  elemen- 
tary education.  Not  only  do  the  aims  of  education  in 
general  and  the  special  elements  in  good  character,  re- 
ceive attention  ;  but  the  curriculum  in  the  Elementary 
School,  the  method  of  its  presentation,  the  method  of 
training  teachers,  and  the  duties  of  parents  toward  school 
work,  are  also  all  included  for  discussion.  Possibly  the 
main  criticism  of  the  work  is  the  fact  that  it  undertakes 
altogether  too  much.  Yet,  that  there  is  much  need  of 
good  books  of  this  kind  on  Education  is  not  to  be  ques- 
tioned. 

The  point  of  view  represented  by  the  author  is  very 
advantageous.  While  quite  familiar  with  Elementary  Ed- 
ucation in  all  its  phases,  he  has  received  the  training  of 
the  specialist  in  Industrial  and  Technical  Education. 
He  has  made  an  advanced  study  of  Educational  problems 
at  Columbia  University,  and  has  for  some  years  been 
engaged  in  the  training  of  teachers,  and  in  administrative 
work  in  a  school  of  technology.  The  problems  here  dis- 
cussed are,  therefore,  handled  in  a  concrete  way,  and 
fully  in  the  spirit  of  modern  times. 

Inasmuch  as  the  author  frequently  presents  the  views 

3 

1593837 


of  prominent  authorities,  in  addition  to  his  own,  the  book 
possesses  the  important  advantage  of  real  breadth  of 
treatment.  The  theses,  summarizing  the  substance  of 
each  chapter,  are  of  much  value,  and  the  fact  that  they 
are  placed  at  the  close  of  each  chapter,  rather  than  at  the 
beginning,  is  a  detail  of  merit.  The  "  Topics  for  Study  " 
that  in  each  case  follow  the  theses,  are  extremely  sug- 
gestive, and  the  definite  references  to  works  of  recog- 
nized authority  for  a  further  study  of  these  topics, 
map  out  the  way  for  the  student  to  post  himself  quite 
thoroughly  on  modern  educational  problems. 

FRANK  M.  McMuRRY. 
Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

FOR  some  years  past  the  writer  has  been  privileged  to 
instruct  in  normal  classes  students  preparing  for  the 
teaching  profession,  as  well  as  those  of  experience  in 
one  or  another  field  of  educational  service,  and  with  him, 
as  with  others  having  to  do  with  this  particular  problem, 
the  question  has  frequently  arisen  :  What  text  shall  we 
use  as  the  general  basis  for  and  guide  in  our  work  ? 

With  the  passing  of  the  old  pyschology  pass  also  many 
of  the  books  in  this  line.  While  with  beginners,  texts 
may  be  selected  that  will  present  the  subject  of  psychol- 
ogy in  such  manner  as  to  fit  the  student  to  study  the 
facts  of  human  nature,  many  of  the  texts  on  education 
attempt  to  cover  such  a  broad  field  of  psychology,  peda- 
gogy and  method  as  entirely  to  bewilder.  Then,  too,  the 
more  mature  normal  or  training  school  student  stands  in 
need  of  a  text  that  shall  set  forth  certain  of  the  great 
educational  principles  (or  the  principle  of  education,  if 
you  will),  and  lead  to  a  consideration  of  the  present 
needs  of  the  school.  The  books  on  general  pedagogy 
will  not  accomplish  this,  and  the  philosophic  treatise 
touches  one  main  issue  simply,  or  is  too  technical  for 
class  use. 

In  many  of  the  books  dealing  with  educational  prob- 

5 


6  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

lems,  the  terms,  references  and  phraseology  used,  imply 
a  broader  knowledge  than  that  possessed  by  most  teach- 
ers. Many  of  the  books  are  written  by  specialists  for 
specialists,  and  this  fact  alone  carries  them  beyond  the 
range  of  the  majority  of  teachers.  The  present  volume 
has  been  prepared  for  the  parent  and  the  general  reader 
as  well  as  for  the  pedagogue  and  the  student.  It  is  in- 
tended to  have  a  relation  to  life  as  well  as  to  lessons,  and  to 
show  how  the  life  at  school  and  the  life  outside  of  school 
may  be  conducted  in  harmony  toward  a  common  end. 

It  seems  to  be  clear  that  the  student  needs  not  so  much 
an  exposition  of  theories  or  a  philosophic  or  historic 
treatise,  as  the"  knowledge  of  a  few  fundamental  facts 
and  principles  regarding  his  profession  and  his  relation 
to  it ;  an  understanding  of  the  purpose  of  education  and 
the  reasons  for  the  establishment  of  the  curriculum  he 
uses.  In  discussing  the  value  of  educational  systems, 
we  must  look  not  merely  to  the  number  and  character 
of  school  buildings,  to  libraries  and  equipments,  to  the 
amount  of  moneys  expended,  and  to  the  material  results 
of  the  student's  work.  The  true  value  or  worth  of  any 
system  of  education  is  to  be  found  within  the  individuals 
themselves,— the  product  of  the  school.  We  must  apply 
a  dynamic,  rather  than  an  external  test,  when  we  at- 
tempt to  formulate  standards. 

In  the  pages  that  follow  the  endeavor  has  been  made 
to  meet  these  requirements.  The  book  is  intended  to  be 
suggestive  rather  than  exhaustive,  the  author  making  no 
claim  to  completeness.  He  has  to  ask  himself  many  of 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  7 

the  questions  herein  asked  the  student.  Education  in  its 
formative  period  many  times  falls  short  of  exact  defini- 
tions, and  education  at  its  best  is  hardly  a  matter  of 
statistics.  The  aim,  too,  has  been  to  avoid  the  use  of 
terms  that  in  themselves  need  defining,  the  thought 
being  that  a  simple  form  of  expression  would  best  suit 
the  purpose  of  the  book,  whether  used  as  a  text,  as  a 
basis  for  study  and  discussion  in  class,  as  a  reference 
book,  or  as  a  work  for  the  general  reader.  While  cer- 
tain of  the  principles  touched  upon  apply  equally  to  all 
fields  of  school  instruction,  the  book  is  intended  mainly 
for  those  interested  in  the  problems  of  elementary 
education. 

In  the  attempt  to  make  the  pages  readable,  illustra- 
tion has  been  resorted  to  frequently.  At  the  close  of 
each  chapter  a  general  summary  is  given  as  a  recapitu- 
lation. The  "  Topics  for  Study  "  following  each  chap- 
ter will  be  found  particularly  helpful  as  suggestive  of  the 
various  important  questions  and  issues  that  may  be  taken 
up  in  detail,  or  of  which  implication  is  made  in  the  text. 
The  student  will  be  able  to  amplify  this  list.  It  has  not 
seemed  wise  to  burden  the  text  with  foot-note  references 
which  the  reader  will  never  look  up,  but  under  the  head 
"  Consult  "  will  be  found  a  list  of  the  more  important 
books  and  references  on  a  given  topic. 

Whatever  is  said  of  the  school  of  the  past  is  said  not  in 
the  spirit  of  carping  criticism,  but  that  the  demand  for 
something  broader  and  more  rational  in  our  schools  may 
be  made  clear.  This  demand  for  a  purposeful  curriculum 


8  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

has  made  necessary  many  times  a  repetition  in  form  of 
expression  or  in  statement,  which  it  has  not  always  seemed 
wise  to  eliminate. 

The  author  finds  great  difficulty  in  making  the  usual 
statement  of  obligation  and  indebtedness  to  those  who 
have  given  him  help  and  inspiration,  the  number  being 
almost  as  large  as  the  great  body  of  teachers  with  whom 
he  has  come  in  contact.  Not  only  is  he  indebted  to  those 
whose  words  are  quoted  in  these  pages  and  to  many  other 
writers  and  teachers,  but  to  that  large  number  of  sincere, 
zealous,  noble-hearted  men  and  women,  called  the  com- 
mon school  teachers,  without  whom  the  great  work  of 
education  would  be  impossible. 

The  writer  cannot  refrain,  however,  from  expressing 
his  special  indebtedness  to  one  who  not  only  with  his  pen, 
but  by  voice  and  presence  gave  to  him,  as  he  gave  to 
hundreds  of  others,  his  first  clear  conception  of  the  real 
meaning  of  teaching.  He  consulted  with  Colonel  Francis 
W.  Parker,  upon  the  content  of  the  present  volume,  only 
a  few  days  before  the  latter's  untimely  death  and  feels  that 
he  cannot  do  better  than  here  repeat  what  he  then  wrote. 
"  No  other  name  has  been  so  closely  interwoven  with  edu- 
cational thought  and  practice  as  has  his.  The  measures 
that  the  Colonel  advocated  three  decades  past,  and  for 
which  he  was  then  derided  and  ridiculed,  are  to-day  prac- 
tised in  every  good  school  in  the  land.  Look  as  we  may 
for  the  cause  of  the  better  and  more  common  sense 
methods  in  the  primary  education  of  to-day,  and  we  find 
it  was  the  changes  and  reforms  that  the  Colonel  advo- 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  g 

cated  and  used  years  ago  in  the  schools  at  Quincy  and 
at  the  Cook  County  Normal  School. 

"  What  sympathy  he  had  for  the  struggling  teacher, 
what  love  for  the  child,  what  reverence  for  the  Infinite, 
what  hatred  for  selfishness  and  wrong,  what  hope  for 
humanity.  To  see  him  was  an  inspiration,  to  hear  him 
speak  was  a  mental  and  spiritual  uplift,  to  work  with  him 
a  revelation.  Through  his  efforts  the  work  of  the  teacher 
has  been  elevated  from  a  vocation  to  the  chiefest  of  pro- 
fessions. The  study  of  pedagogy  has  through  his  teach- 
ing been  made  real  and  tangible.  He  has  proven  to  all 
the  world  that  the  school  should  exist  for  the  child,  that 
in  it  the  child  should  find  his  fullest  expression  and  be 
led  to  expand  and  grow  into  his  perfect  self." 

He  wishes  also  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  given  by 
his  friend  and  teacher,  Doctor  Frank  M.  McMurry  of 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  who  has  been 
kind  enough  to  read  these  pages  and  to  write  an  intro- 
duction for  the  book  ;  and  to  express  his  gratitude  to 
Miss  Kathrine  Lois  Scobey  of  the  University  School, 
Chicago,  for  her  careful  criticism  and  helpful  suggestion, 
and  to  his  brother,  Professor  James  Franklin  Chamber- 
lain of  the  State  Normal  School,  Los  Angeles,  who  has 
worked  through  every  page  of  the  manuscript.  He  is 
indebted  to  Mr.  James  C.  Miller  of  the  Provincial  Nor- 
mal School,  Calgary,  Canada,  for  valuable  assistance,  and 
to  Professor  Charles  Emory  Barber  of  Throop  Poly- 
technic Institute,  who  has  read  the  proof  and  made  the 
analytical  table  of  contents. 


io  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

His  hope  is  that  those  who  study  these  pages  may  be 
led  to  a  fuller  realization  than  that  commonly  held  of 
the  meaning  of  the  school  and  of  education. 

A.  H.  C. 
Throop  Polytechnic  Institute, 

Pasadena,  California. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION 19 

Universal  recognition  of  the  necessity  for  education — The  at- 
tempts to  establish  an  ideal  in  education — Lack  of  harmony 
between  the  Real  and  the  Ideal — Notwithstanding  the  fail- 
ure to  realize  the  Ideal,  every  age  has  developed  great  men — 
Difficulty  of  evaluating  the  Ideal  of  another — Plato  and  the 
Practical — Aristotle  and  the  Ideal — The  problem  of  Edu- 
cation— Dual  nature  of  this  problem:  how  to  develop  the 
individual  and  to  preserve  his  subserviency  to  society — This 
duality  not  antagonistic;  society  and  the  individual  insep- 
arable from  each  other — The  modern  school  weak  on  the 
sociological  side — The  standard  is  defective;  it  does  not  give 
due  emphasis  to  social  obligation — Relation  of  culture,  dis- 
cipline and  knowledge — Differentiation  of  matter  and 
method — Education  builds  for  the  future:  hence  cannot  be 
exclusively  "practical" — Psycho-sociological  elements  of 
self-control,  responsibility,  leadership — Development  of 
originality  and  individuality — that  is  initiative. 

CHAPTER  II 

THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM:  ITS  MOTIVE  AND 
CONTENT 37 

The  educational  unrest — Unrest  first  noticeable  in  secondary 
schools — Practice  not  in  harmony  with  standards — In  prac- 
tice the  school  is  arranged  for  the  few  rather  than  for  the 
many — The  elementary  school  most  important  because 


12  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

PAGE 

fundamental — Elementary  curriculum  out  of  adjustment — 
Curriculum  does  not  square  with  life — Causes  of  discontin- 
uance in  school — The  knowledge  of  most  worth — The 
broadening  of  programs  has  frequently  shallowed  results — 
Necessity  for  adjustment  as  seen  in  the  teaching  of  arithme- 
tic— In  the  teaching  of  language — In  the  teaching  of 
geography — In  the  industrial  arts — Expression  as  essential 
as  impression — The  thought  side  in  industrial  processes 
should  have  more  emphasis — Industrial  training  a  most 
valuable  element  in  development — The  old  Psychology  out- 
grown— The  hand  and  the  brain  should  act  in  unison — 
Complexity  of  society  such  that  present  industrial  bias 
reaches  every  member  of  it — The  metamorphic  period  in 
Education;  Dr.  Hall's  characterization — Personality  of  the 
teacher  a  vital  factor  in  readjustment — Readjustment  nec- 
essary because  of  new  interpretation  of  life  and  new  stand- 
ards— School  not  apart  from  life  but  a  part  of  life — Cur- 
riculum must  be  actually  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  age 
— Relation  of  school  life  to  civic  life  must  be  clear  to  teacher 
and  pupil. 

CHAPTER  III 

INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING:  ITS  AIM  AND  SCOPE    ...     68 

The  traditional  subjects  and  their  development — The  intro- 
duction of  "manual  training" — Inadequacy  of  the  term 
"manual  training" — Reasons  for  manual  training  in  the 
curriculum  essentially  the  same  as  reasons  for  the  other  sub- 
jects— Special  reasons  advanced — Appreciation  of  the  dig- 
nity of  labor — Satisfaction  of  creative  activity  of  the  child 
• — Development  of  understanding  of  our  industrial  life — 
Recreation  resulting  from  a  change  of  occupation — Promo- 
tion of  physical  development — Elevates  moral  standards 
— Develops  manual  dexterity — May  serve  as  a  foundation 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  13 

PAGE 

for  trades — Reenforces  and  clarifies  the  traditional  "book 
subjects" — Typical  systems  of  manual  training — The 
exercise  system  as  developed  in  Russia — The  completed- 
model  system:  Sloydin  Sweden — The  rigid  systematizing 
of  sloyd  in  America  devitalizes  it — Manual  training  may 
degenerate  into  lessons  rather  than  life — Many  teachers  fail 
to  appreciate  the  underlying  principles — Others  fail  to  ad- 
just these  principles  to  a  growing  child  in  a  changing  en- 
vironment— An  illustration  from  the  Philippines — Shall 
boys  and  girls  have  the  same  work  ? — Shall  the  occupation 
be  fitted  to  the  child,  or  the  child  to  the  occupation  ? — Tech- 
nique not  the  end  of  work — Danger  of  too  great  freedom 
in  self-expression  and  initiative — Great  value  of  industrial 
art  is  its  assistance  to  the  child  in  the  conquest  of  his  en- 
vironment. 

CHAPTER  IV 
THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION 102 

Correlation,  concentration,  coordination  require  definition — 
Concentration  as  defined  by  Herbart — Meaning  of  inter- 
relation— The  group-idea  in  correlation;  coordinate  groups 
—The  individual  subject  of  study  as  a  center;  concentration 
— The  child  as  the  real  center  toward  which  effort  is  di- 
rected— Humanistic  and  formal  studies — Development 
means  conformity  to  law — Self-activity  a  governing  force — 
Distinction  between  correlation  and  concentration — In- 
definiteness  of  pedagogical  nomenclature — Distinction  be- 
tween coordination  and  concentration — Unification  and 
isolation — Coordination  and  the  group-idea — Correlation 
in  coordinate  groups — Unification  and  relative  values — 
Reasons  for  unity  found  in  the  individual — Correlation  not 
possible  at  every  point — Correlation  finds  greatest  op- 
portunity in  lower  grades — Correlation  only  the  "  logical 


14  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

PAGE 

balance" — Social  and  industrial  conditions  of  to-day  re- 
quires a  unifying  of  the  elementary  curriculum. 

CHAPTER  V 
THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING 118 

Increasing  necessity  for  moral  training  in  a  nation  so  strongly 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  indiyidualism — The  school,  being 
life  in  minature,  is  the  natural  teacher  of  morals — Early 
moral  instruction  not  separable  from  religious  instruction — 
The  fundamental  purposes  of  the  school — Formal  moral 
instruction  lacking  in  vitality — The  child  should  see  that 
ethics  must  appear  in  the  concrete  as  conduct — Character 
a  part  of,  not  apart  from,  daily  life. 

(a)  Interest:  Interest  is  vital  in  any  instruction — The  child 
interested  in  things  before  symbols — School  too  often  ut- 
terly unlike  life — Some  reasons  for  the  study  of  that  which 
does  not  interest — The  fighting  impulse,  the  desire  for 
mastery  must  be  aroused — The  easy  task  not  necessarily 
interesting — The  difficult  task  not  necessarily  uninteresting 
— The  knowledge  of  a  dominant  interest  the  teacher's  ally. 

(b)  Attention:  Voluntary  and  involuntary  attention — Atten- 
tion without  effort — Involuntary  attention  develops  into 
voluntary  attention — Overtaxing  may  lead  to  instability  in 
mental  attitude. 

(c)  Discipline:  Close  relation  of  interest  and  attention  to 
discipline — Outward  sign  of  discipline — The  discovery  of 
the  dominant  interest  may  turn  a  refractory  boy — Obe- 
dience must  become  choice — Actual  cooperation  difficult  to 
secure— Obedience  and  character — Rules  underlying  dis- 
cipline: regularity,  punctuality,  silence,  industry — Interre- 
lation of  society  and  the  individual — Morality  not  inherent; 
it  must  be  developed — Moral  education  not  knowledge  but 
life— Example  and  experience  better  than  precept — School 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  15 

PAGE 

the  chief  agency  in  the  teaching  of  morals — Morals  and  re- 
ligion— Difficulty  of  separating  religion  from  sectarian 
teaching — Religious  element  essential  to  true  morality — 
Morals  and  the  emotions — He  who  jeels  the  right  has  the 
advantage  of  him  who  merely  knows  the  right. 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HABIT 149 

Habit  a  vital  element  in  character — An  act  done  tends  to  de- 
velop a  desire  to  repeat  the  act — The  blazed  trail;  the  line  of 
least  resistance — The  parallel  between  the  mental  and  the 
physical  habit — Building  and  breaking  habits  not  reverse 
processes — Habit  is  acquired  only  through  doing:  repeti- 
tion— Difficulty  of  breaking  old  habits — The  readiest  way 
is  to  substitute  the  new — In  acquiring  habits  the  mind  and 
body  must  be  kept  occupied. 

CHAPTER  VII 
THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION 158 

Formal  discipline  and  mental  development — Impossibility  of 
grasping  all  knowledge — The  ideals  of  school  and  of  life 
identical — The  old  and  the  "new"  education — A  unified 
course  of  seven  groups  correlated. 

(a)  Physical  Training  and  Its  Place:  Necessity  for  physical 
training — Need  of  supervision  and  systematization — Sug- 
gestions for  schools  without  special  equipment — Danger 
of  overstrain — Athletics:  some  arguments  in  their  favor — 
Competition  and  specialization — Professionalism  and  its 
dangers — Some  data  in  track  and  field  athletics,  football 
and  baseball — Athletics  should  be  for  all,  and  should  in- 
crease standards  of  efficiency  in  scholarship — Physical  con- 
dition in  the  schoolroom — The  teacher  and  the  games. 

(b)  The  Industrial  Arts  and  Their  Place:  Clay-modeling, 


1 6  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

PAGE 

tiles,  pottery — Basketry  and  weaving — Paper  and  card- 
board—Metal- work,  bent  iron,  copper,  brass,  etc.— Wood- 
work. 

CHAPTER  VIII 
STUDY  AND  PREPARATION 189 

(a)  At  Home:  Why  home  study  has  seemed  necessary — The 
danger  of  overburdening  young  children — The  lack  of  di- 
rection in  study  at  home — Responsibility  rests  upon  both 
teacher  and  parent — Much  of  the  danger  avoided  if  home 
work  be  made  chiefly  along  industrial  lines. 

(b)  At  School:  School  rather  than  the  home  the  place  for 
formal  study — Necessity  of  learning  how  to  study— The 
advantage  of  the  study -recitation. 

CHAPTER  IX 
THE  RECITATION  PROCESS 199 

(a)  Selection  oj  Material:  No  method  without  matter — Local 
conditions  determine   the   subjects   to  be   studied — The 
curriculum  should  be  both  interesting  and  serviceable — 
Text -books  as  guides — Teachers  should  have  much  liberty 
of  choice  in  selecting  material,  as  they  are  responsible  for 
results— Text-books,  and  subsidiary  study  from  reading, 
conversation,  observation  and  experience. 

(b)  Development  oj  the  Plan:  A  lesson  worth  giving  is  worth 
planning — Circumstances   may  alter  the  routine  of  the 
plan— The  plan  lessens  danger  of  haphazard  work. 

(c)  Assignment  of  Lesson:  The  topic — The  value  of  definite 
assignment —The  pupil  a  judge  of  his  own  ability — He  is 
not  to  be  deprived  of  his  privilege  of  effort. 

(d)  Flow    to    Study:  Concentration — Clear    thinking    and 
exact  expression — Individual  thought  to  be  encouraged — 
Kindergarten  methods  in  the  upper  grades. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  17 

PAGE 

(e)  Hearing  the  Lesson  vs.  Teaching:  The  question  and 
answer  method — The  teacher's  contribution — The  study- 
recitation — The  art  of  questioning — The  pupil  as  teacher — 
Encouragement  as  necessary  as  adverse  criticism — Exam- 
inations: their  value  and  their  danger. 

CHAPTER  X 

TRAINING,  PROFESSIONAL  GROWTH  AND  RECOMPENSE 
OF  THE  TEACHER       219 

(A)  INITIAL  PREPARATION 

(a)  Knowledge  of  Sub ject-M alter:  High  School  requirements 
for  admission   to   Normal  Schools — Subject-matter  and 
method. 

(b)  Value  of  Psychology:  Psychology  the  interpretation  of 
human  nature — Its  difficulties — Laws  vs.  the  application  of 
laws — A  misfit  in  text-books — Vague  terminology  in  psy- 
chology— The  value  of  experience. 

(c)  Attitude  of  Prospective  Teacher:  Reasons  for  entering  the 
profession — Attitude  of  the  High  School  is  academic — At- 
titude of  the  Normal  School  is  professional — The  teacher 
is  a  stimulator  of  thought. 

(d)  Ability  to  Teach:  Selective  province  of  the  Training  School. 

(B)  THE  TEACHER'S  READING 

The  value  of  books— Discrimination  in  reading — Reading 
and  discussion — Read  and  criticise,  compare,  and  judge — 

(C)  THE  TEACHER'S  ASSOCIATES 
Benefits  of  association — The  teacher's  place  in  society. 

(D)  CONTACT  WITH  THE  ISSUES  OF  LIFE 
(a)  Standards  of  Morality:  Advantage  of  a  wide  range  of  in- 
terests— Elevation  of  moral  standards. 
Standards — 2 


i8  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

(b)  Material  and  Industrial  Development:  The  teacher  in 
touch  with  commercial  and  industrial  interests — The  va- 
rious problems  of  daily  life  have  a  relation  to  school  life. 

(c)  ^Esthetic  Feeling:  Culture  and  the  Arts. 

(E)  READING   CIRCLES,    EXTENSION    COURSES,    CORRE- 

SPONDENCE AND  SUMMER  SCHOOLS 

(F)  TEACHERS'  MEETINGS,  INSTITUTES,  AND  CONVENTIONS 

(G)  QUALITIES  ESSENTIAL  TO  GROWTH 
Honesty — Open-mindedness — Spirit  of  responsibility — Fear- 
lessness— Simplicity — Tactfulness — Willingness    and    the 
gospel  of  work — Order  and  system — Discrimination,  con- 
centration, judgment. 

(H)  THE  RECOMPENSE 

Not  to  be  measured  in  terms  of  dollars  or  honors,  but  in  terms 
of  value  of  service. 


STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION 

MORE  than  a  century  past,  our  fathers,  single  minded 
to  the  best  interests  of  education,  essayed  to  enunciate 
what  to  us  still  seems  to  be  a  fundamental  principle,  that 
"religion,  morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to 
good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools 
and  the  means  of  education  shall  ever  be  en- 
Necessity  couraged."  At  all  times  and  in  all  places 

for  Educa- 


1-1 

education  of  one  kind  or  another  has  been 
held  to  be  a  necessity,  looking  toward  the  best 
and  fullest  development  of  the  individuals  in  a 
tribe,  community  or  nation.  The  question  has  never 
been,  "  Shall  we  educate  ?  "  The  query  rather  has  been, 
"  What  shall  we  study,  and  how  ?  "  But  a  hundred 
years  in  the  study  of  educational  thought  and  achieve- 
ment is  as  yesterday.  The  dweller  in  early  Egypt,  in 
Babylon,  in  Assyria,  and  in  Phoenicia,  the  Persian  and 
the  Roman,  the  Greek  and  the  Hindu,  the  Jew  and  the 
Japanese,  —  each  has  endeavored  in  his  own  way  to  work 
out  his  individual  problems,  and  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously to  follow  Paul's  admonition  :  "  Prove  all  things  ; 
hold  fast  that  which  is  good." 

19 


20  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

Education  has  long  been  defined,  but  as  we  to-day 
glance  back  over  the  centuries  we  find  it  difficult  to  true 
the  definition  of  any  particular  people  to  the  practice  of 
their  educational  doctrine,  much  less  are  we  able  to 
square  the  practice  of  yesterday  with  the  theory  of  to- 
morrow. And  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  needs  and 

necessities  of  those  who  have  so  worthily 
andcontent  preceded  us,  or  of  the  broad  strides  educa- 
notinHar-  tion  has  taken,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 

to-day,  as  never  before,  we  are  looking  for 
the  prophet  to  lead  us,  and  more  than  ever  before  are 
realizing  that  the  mighty  dynamic  changes  in  our  indus- 
trial and  social  atmosphere  demand  that  a  deeper  and 
more  significant  interpretation  be  placed  upon  our  defini- 
tion of  education,  and  that  the  practices  thereof  be  laid 
in  accordance  with  such  interpretation. 

Here  and  there  the  worth  of  a  system  is  exemplified 

in  the  life  and  achievement  of  a  great  soul, 
produces'  More  than  four  centuries  before  Christ  and 
Great  upon  the  plains  a  short  call  from  Rome,  a 

Leaders 

product  of  the  education  of  the  day  left  his 
plow  in  the  furrow  and  with  the  sword  of  the  soldier  and 
the  robe  of  the  dictator,  between  sunset  and  sunset, 
saved  the  Roman  army  from  defeat.  Then,  leaving 
power,  and  glory,  and  the  acclaim  of  the  multitude,  Cin- 
cinnatus  returned  to  the  occupation  of  his  fathers.  Al- 
fred, gathering  his  Saxons  to  drive  out  the  invading  hosts, 
Columbus,  seeking  a  new  world  through  uncharted  seas, 
Luther,  thundering  for  reforms  in  church  administration, 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  21 

Washington,  upholding  a  nation's  courage  at  Valley 
Forge,  "  dumb  for  himself  unless  it  were  to  God,  but  for 
his  barefoot  soldiers  eloquent,"  Lincoln,  striking  the 
shackles  from  millions  of  slaves, — the  work  of  these  as 
teachers  of  men  is  clearly  traced  upon  the  pages  of  his- 
tory and  reflected  in  the  lives  of  their  fellows. 

Often  enough  do  we  listen  to  the  words  of  the  philoso- 
pher on  the  meaning  of  school,  to  the  ideal  utterances  of 
the  theorist,  to  the  academic  statements  of  the  narrow- 
minded  and  conservative,  and  often  enough  do  we  con- 
demn the  results  achieved  in  the  past  as  spiritless  and 
formal.  What  call,  however,  have  we  to  criticise  the 
work  of  an  Aristotle  or  a  Herbart,  a  Bacon 
Applying  or  an  Erasmus  ?  jror  has  ft  not  been  written 

Personal 

standards  to     as  much  for  the  educationalist  as  for  the 

"Work  of  An-  , ,  T1         ,     , ,  ,  . 

other  money  changers,  "  Who  shall  ascend  into  the 

hill  of  the  Lord?"  And  the  answer:  Not 
the  rich,  necessarily,  nor  the  powerful  nor  the  gifted,  but 
"he  that  hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart." 

How  difficult  then  to  analyze  the  word  or  work  of 
another.  For  Plato,  education  must  make  only  for  spir- 
itual growth  and  with  him  spiritual  development  had 
nothing  in  common  with  the  material  world.  To  think 
of  the  present  was  not  to  be  tolerated,  for  he  tells  us 
in  the  Republic  that  "practical  arts  are  degrading." 
Hence,  all  training  must  be  of  that  ideal  character  that 
shall  consider  only  a  future  state.  The  philosophy  of 
Plato  here  seems  to  be  narrowing  ;  but  as  Putnam  points 
out,  it  was  after  all  Plato  whose  writings  seem  to  have 


22  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

forecast  the  modern  kindergarten  and  the  doctrine  of 
"learning  to  do  by  doing."* 

Aristotle,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  be  the  warm 
humanist  who  plans  to  meet  the  requirements  of  every- 
day life  and  who  insists  that  perfect  citizenship  is  the 
goal  toward  which  education  should  tend.  We  gather 
from  Aristotle's  Politics,  that  if  a  man  prove  virtuous  in 
character,  no  further  concern  need  be  felt  for  his  future. 
Nevertheless,  the  so-called  practical  does  not  cover  the 
whole  of  the  Aristotelian  philosophy.  Note  what  he 
says :  "  To  be  always  in  quest  of  what  is  useful  is  not 
becoming  to  high  minded  men  and  freemen."  And  in  a 
study  of  other  great  minds,  Socrates  and  Seneca,  Agric- 
ola  and  Sturm,  Ascham,  Rabelais,  Bacon,  Comenius, 
Francke,  Rousseau,  Froebel,  Spencer,  Locke  and  Mann, 
it  is  found  that  all  have  agreed  and  disagreed,  and  that 
as  yet  no  one  has  entirely  erected  the  superstructure  of 
the  education  needed  to-day. 

It  is  held  by  some  that  education  is  the  reconstruction 
of  experience.  They  believe  that  neither  preparation  for 
life,  nor  information,  is  the  goal,  but  hold  with  Aristotle 
that  to  work  toward  an  ultimate  moral  character  simply, 
is  to  stop  short  of  the  desired  end.  It  is  always  neces- 
sary, I  believe,  in  such  an  undertaking  as  the  one  in  which 
we  are  now  engaged,  to  pause,  and,  following  the  lead  of 
Daniel  Webster,  to  return  to  the  original  point  of  de- 
parture that  we  may  be  sure  of  having  an  established 
premise. 

*  A  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  p.  17. 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  23 

The  question  then  is  :  For  what  does  the  school  stand  ? 

What  is  education  ?     Education,  say  some,  is 

Question,-       training  for  life.     To  which  answer  is  made 

The  Aim  of       that  it  is  more  than  a  training  for  life  ;  it  is 

Education  . 

life  itself.  To  meet  such  a  requirement  edu- 
cation should  bring  into  action  all  the  abilities  of  the  pupil, 
or,  as  O'Shea  puts  it,  "the  ideal  attributes  that  exist  in 
potentia  in  the  human  spirit."  *  It  should  develop  in 
him  all  essential  qualities  and  virtues,  should  make  him 
master  of  himself  mentally,  physically,  and  morally,  should 
help  him  to  appreciate  and  value  only  the  good  and  to  dis- 
card the  relatively  bad,  should  prepare  him  for  more  com- 
plete living ;  should  in  short,  be  the  means  by  which  he 
shall  be  enabled  to  take  his  place  in  the  great  world  of 
life  and  action  as  a  unit  in  a  complete  social  order.  If 
the  lesson  to  be  learned  is  that  of  mutual  helpfulness,  then 
education  should  look  toward  teaching  men  how  best  to 
perform  this  service. 

It  seems  to  be  plain  that  any  education  worthy  the 
name,  considers  the  present  as  well  as  the  future  of  the 
individual,  or  to  put  it  another  way,  considers  the  present 
and  hence  the  future  of  the  individual.  Characters  must 
be  formed,  not  alone  that  ultimate  good  may  be  accom- 
plished, but  that  the  standards  of  society  may  be  raised 
here  and  now. 

This  brings  us  at  once  to  the  dual  nature  of  our  prob- 
lem— the  individual  upon  the  one  hand,  and  society 
upon  the  other ;  and  hence,  the  psychological  and  the 

*  Education  as  Adjustment,  p.  62. 


24  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

sociological  elements  are  both  to  be  considered.     The 

individual  relation  of  the  individual  to  society  gives  us 

vs.  society ;  the  sociological  view,  while  the  psychological 

icaTand°fo-  aspects  are  determined  by  the  relation  of 

cioiogicai  tne  individual  to  himself. 

Elements 

Society  is  made  up  of  a  group  of  individu- 
als. The  individual  lives  in  society,  is  a  part  of  society, 
is  responsible  to  society,  and  helps  to  determine  and  mold 
the  tone  or  character  of  the  social  atmosphere.  Society, 
however,  sets  the  standards,  and  the  individual  must  con- 
form, in  great  measure,  to  these  standards  as  set.  On 
the  other  hand,  while  being  responsible  and  owing  du- 
ties to  society,  the  individual  must  demand  something  of 
himself  as  well.  But  while  these  two  sets  of  duties,  of  in- 
dividual to  society,  and  of  individual  to  self,  are  distinct 
and  may  be  segregated,  the  one  from  the  other,  there  is 
no  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two.  That  is, 
the  one  cannot  be  considered,  practically,  without  the 
other,  for  what  is  best  for  the  individual  is  best  for  society  ; 
and  conversely,  what  is  for  the  best  interests  of  society 
will  prove  of  greatest  value  to  the  individual. 

Professor  MacVannel  points  out*  that  just  as  the  in- 
dividual is  a  unity  whose  life  is  in  the  proc- 
ess  °*  making,  of  organization,  so  is  he  also 
the  interest  a  unity  in,  or  an  intrinsic  part  of,  a  larger  unity 
viduai  of  society  which  is  in  the  process  of  organi- 

zation as  well.     If  society  is  to  perpetuate 

•"The  Philosophy  of  Education,"  Teachers  College  Record,  vol.  5, 
no.  4,  sec.  5. 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  25 

and  strengthen  itself,  and  if  the  individual  is  to  exist  and 
prosper,  the  latter  must,  many  times,  merge  his  desires 
in  the  will  of  society,  and  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  for- 
sake personal  or  selfish  ends  for  the  common  well-being. 
In  the  material  world  this  duality  of  psychological 
and  sociological  elements  is  noted.  Society  demands 
an  article,  —  a  brick,  it  may  be,  or  a  dynamo,  or  a  bucket. 
Society  needs  the  article  and  thereby  sets  the  standard. 
The  What  is  the  social  phase  of  our  problem.  How  to 
produce  the  article,  to  carry  it  over  in  the  various  proc- 
esses of  manufacture  from  the  raw  material  to  the  com- 
pleted state,  to  transport  from  place  to  place,  the  cheap- 
est and  most  effective  methods  of  advertising,  —  these 
have  to  do  with  the  psychological  phase. 

That  raw  materials  of  the  average  present  day  cur- 
riculum are  not  designed  to  touch  deeply  the 
sociological  element  in  experience  can  readily 


sociological  be  shown.  The  evolutionary  process,  the  un- 
foldment  of  the  child's  powers,  presupposes 
a  widening  of  the  child's  experience,  —  a  growth  from 
within,  through  the  presentation  of  certain  study  mate- 
rials. But  the  boy  or  the  girl,  the  product  of  the  school, 
has  little  opportunity  to  react  upon  society.  Or  per- 
haps one  might  better  say  the  individual  has  not  gained 
that  which  will  enable  him  to  react  with  profit  upon  so- 
ciety. Knowledge  is  not  power,  unless  knowledge  can 
be  transformed  into  terms  of  power  producing  energy. 
The  mere  knowing  a  thing  is  not  always  significant  in 
itself.  The  thing  known  must  have  some  relation  to  the 


26  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

conditions,  the  needs,  the  desires,  the  life,  of  the  society 
of  which  the  individual  is  only  one  of  the  component 
parts.  The  facts  of  knowledge  must  be  capable  of  ap- 
plication looking  towards  the  satisfying  of  needs  and  the 
raising  of  standards,  and  the  training  of  the  individual 
must  be  such  as  to  make  possible  the  interpretation  of 
such  application. 

But  the  question  is  here  raised  :  How  does  it  happen 
that  the  raw  materials  of  which  we  have  been  speaking, 
the  school  studies,  have  not  been  such  as  to  meet  the 
sociological  and  the  psychological  demands  ?  Have  the 
school  men  of  the  past  been  blind  to  the  interests  of 
society  ?  Has  too  little  thought  been  used  in  consider- 
ing the  best  development  of  the  individual  ?  It  may  be 
answered,  I  submit,  that  the  standard  of  the  school  has 
sprung  from  the  belief  that  knowledge  is  power,  that 
facts  educate,  that  mental  gymnastics  produce  the  man. 
The  standard  of  the  real  school  must  be  found  in  actual 
life.  It  must  be  based  upon  the  natural 
tendencies  of  the  individual  ;  it  must  grow 


standards         out  of  a  knowledge  of  the  child  as  a  social 

should  be  ...  , 

Found  being  ;  it  must  recognize  the  home,  the  com- 

munity, the  factory,  the  shop,  the  farm  ;  it 
must  consider  civil,  industrial,  social  and  moral  institu- 
tions. Any  curriculum  worthy  a  place  in  our  schools 
must  be  built  upon  a  clear  conception  that  reason  stands 
superior  to  fact,  that  expression  is  worth  more  than 
technique,  that  human  sympathy  transcends  in  value  the 
printed  pages  of  a  book. 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  27 

According  as  we  hold  one  or  another  view  of  the  un- 
derlying principles  of  education  and  of  the 

d8"  rCal  Pr0vince  °f  the  scno°l,  do  we  trans- 
Information  late  the  school  studies  into  terms  of  value 
and  attribute  to  them  relative  worths.  To 
some  the  school  stands  for  culture,  and  the  curriculum 
should  be  so  ordered  as  to  promote  this  culture  side  of 
the  child's  life.  Some  think  rather  in  terms  of  disci- 
pline and  insist  that  school  studies  should  make  for  this 
end.  Others  again  would  place  information  as  the  chief 
element  to  be  considered.  Shall  the  value  of  school 
studies,  however,  be  found  to  exist  within  the  studies 
themselves  and  is  it  to  be  determined  by  the  nature  of  such 
studies  ?  If  society  sets  the  standard,  how  can  there  be 
several  possible  values  ?  With  several  standards  set  up, 
there  is,  as  Dr.  Dewey  says,  "no  conception  of  any  sin- 
gle unifying  principle — the  extent  and  way  in  which  a 
study  brings  the  pupil  to  consciousness  of  his  social  en- 
vironment, and  confers  upon  him  the  ability  to  interpret 
his  own  powers  from  the  standpoint  of  their  possibilities 
in  social  use,  is  the  ultimate  and  unified  standard."  * 

It  is,  of  course,  unsafe  to  say  that  mathematics  and 
the  languages  make  for  discipline  chiefly,  that  the  study 
of  English  brings  culture,  that  history  lends  itself  to  the 
informational  side  of  development.  The  fact  is  that 
under  the  best  conditions,  mathematics  is  cultural  and 
informational  as  well  as  disciplinary  in  value ;  the  Eng- 
lish group  of  studies  may  be  made  to  cover  as  wide  a 

*  Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education,  p.  1 8. 


28  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

field  as  mathematics  and  Latin,  while  history  may  bring 
as  complete  a  development  as  any  school  subject.  To 
say  that  one  study  makes  for  culture  and  another  for 
discipline  means  simply  that  the  standard  for  culture  or 
for  discipline  comes  from  the  individual,  not  from  society. 
Culture,  in  the  terms  of  our  discussion,  means  possibili- 
ties for  development,  open  mindedness,  honesty,  the 
sense  of  service  awakened,  not  merely  varnish  and 
veneer.  Information  implies  knowledge,  to  be  sure,  but 
knowledge  that  not  only  can  be  used,  but  that  is  carried 
over  and  made  a  part  of  the  lives  of  others  to  the  end 
that  all  are  advantaged  thereby.  Discipline  suggests 
not  only  the  analytic  mind  and  the  trained  muscle,  but 
the  sympathetic  soul  and  the  teachable  spirit  as  well. 

In  this  connection,  notice  how  broad  is  the  definition 
of  culture  as  given  by  Bosenquet.  "  Culture,"  he  says, 
"  is  the  habit  of  mind  instinct  with  purpose,  conscious  of 
the  continuity  and  connection  of  human  events,  able  and 
industrious  ;  capable  of  discriminating  the  great  from  the 
trivial." 

Method,  too,  is  a  determining  element  in  the  value  of 
studies,  for  the.  comparative  worth  of  any  given  body  of 
subject-matter  to  the  individual,  or  to  society,  is  deter- 
mined in  no  small  degree  by  the  manner  of 
presentation.  While  it  is  true  that  subject- 


subject-  matter  and  method  are  not  distinct,  but  ex- 

Matter  and        .  .  . 

Method  ist  as  two  sides  of  experience,  the  psycholog- 

ical and  the   social,  it  remains  to  be  said, 
however,  that  for  the  practical  purposes  of  the  teacher 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  29 

and  the  school,  it  is  eminently  necessary  that  they 
be  clearly  distinguished,  the  one  from  the  other.  It 
has  long  been  insisted  by  some,  and  assumed  by  others, 
that  in  a  course  of  training,  for  example,  the  method  was 
of  chief  concern :  that  if  the  teacher  in  embryo  could 
secure  a  knowledge  of  method,  an  understanding  of  how 
to  do  the  given  thing,  that  a  knowledge  of  subject-matter 
itself,  of  the  definite  facts  connected  with  the  particular 
line  of  work,  could  be  somehow  grasped  at  a  later  time. 
The  fallacy  of  this  view  is  apparent  to  all  who  consent 
for  a  moment  to  consider  seriously  the  issues  involved. 
How  utterly  inconsistent  to  endeavor  to  formulate  a 
method,  or  to  act  intelligently  under  one,  until  a  knowl- 
edge is  had  of  that  upon  which  method  is  based.  Many 
of  our  normal  schools  have  this  lesson  yet  to  learn,  and 
educational  institutions  the  country  over,  not  only  of  ele- 
mentary and  secondary,  but  of  collegiate  grade,  would  do 
well  to  select  the  subject-matter  of  the  curriculum  with 
more  care  than  has  been  manifest  in  the  past.  Indeed 
the  necessity  for  a  knowledge  of  subject-matter  be- 
fore training  or  method  work  is  attempted,  is  one  of 
the  strongest  possible  arguments  in  favor  of  normal 
and  professional  schools  admitting  as  students  only 
those  who  have  had  a  previous  thorough,  academic 
training.  Once  subject-matter  has  been  selected  in 
any  school,  the  work  should  be  made  more  intensive 
than  we  now  find  it — more  intensive  from  the  stand- 
point of  thought  values,  and  also  from  that  of  exe- 
cution. 


3o  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

All  this  does  not  in  any  manner  whatsoever  contradict 
what  has  been  said  previously  regarding 
weiiasVa-  thought  and  expression  being  paramount, 
ture Needs  It  means  that  a  knowledge  at  first  hand 
sidered°n  °f  things  that  have  a  valid  place  in  society, 
not  only  for  the  future  but  in  the  present, 
is  to  be  the  first  essential.  It  means,  as  Dr.  Dewey 
tells  us,  that  "  The  present  has  its  claims.  It  is  in  edu- 
cation, if  anywhere,  that  the  claims  of  the  present 
should  be  controlling,"  and  this  is  in  accord  with  the 
words  of  President  Butler, — "  Education  is  the  adjust- 
ment of  the  individual  to  the  spiritual  possessions  of  the 
race."  It  means  what  Browning  means,  when  he  says : 

"Let  things  be — not  seem, 
I  counsel  rather,  do  and' nowise  dream! 
Earth's  young  significance  is  all  to  learn; 
The  dead  Greek  lore  lies  buried  in  the  Urn, 
Where  he  who  seeks  fire  finds  ashes." 

And  self-control,  leadership,  responsibility — is  it  the 
duty  of  the  school  to  undertake  the  task  of 

Self-Control,  .  -11  i 

Leadership,       inculcating  in  its  pupils  these  elements  so 
Mfm6?011"      essential   to   success?      Must  the   time   be 

sibility  in 

the  school  placed,  and  the  thought  of  education  be  cen- 
tered, upon  these  factors,  when  it  might  be 
troubling  itself  with  the  real  facts  of  knowledge  ?  The 
question  is  put  only  to  have  one  answer  returned.  What 
of  the  city  where  the  members  of  the  police  number  as 
many  as  the  teachers  engaged  in  the  schools  ?  What  of 
houses  of  correction,  of  the  institutions  of  reform,  the 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  31 

prisons,  the  courts  of  justice,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  of  the 
hospitals,  asylums,  and  homes  for  the  unfortunate  and 
distressed  ?  In  the  lack  of  self-control,  in  the  inability  to 
interpret  properly  the  demands  of  society  or  to  perform 
its  duties,  having  learned  them,  in  unstableness  of  char- 
acter, to  the  end  that  the  right  is  lost  sight  of  and  the 
stronger  powers  of  leadership  in  others  prevail,  is  found 
the  cause  of  much  of  the  weakness  underlying  our  social 
organization.  Could  the  school  teach  effectively  the 
lesson  of  self-control,  we  need  have  little  fear  of  results 
when  the  product  of  the  system  is  thrown  among  the 
currents  of  the  world.  "  What  now  is  the  most  impor- 
tant attribute  of  man  as  a  moral  being  ?  May  we  not 
answer,  the  faculty  of  self-control  ?  This  it  is  which 
forms  a  chief  distinction  between  the  human  being  and 
the  brute.  It  is  in  virtue  of  this  that  man  is  defined  as 
a  creature  '  looking  before  and  after.'  It  is  in  their  larger 
endowment  of  this  that  the  civilized  races  are  superior  to 
the  savage.  In  supremacy  of  this  consists  one  of  the 
perfections  of  the  ideal  man."  *  And  here  the  tact  and 
ability  of  the  teacher  shows  itself.  It  is  the  teacher  who, 
at  his  best,  stands  between  the  child  and  the  various  ex- 
periences that  await  him.  The  teacher,  from  his  larger 
store  of  knowledge,  directs  the  child  toward,  and  intro- 
duces him  to,  these  forms  of  experience,  which  are  es- 
pecially adapted  to  bring  out  and  develop  the  element 
of  control,  pointing  the  way  that  the  pupil  may  in 
the  shortest  possible  time  and  with  the  least  expendi- 
*  Spencer :  Social  Statics,  "  The  Rights  of  Children,"  p.  86. 


32  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

ture  of  misdirected  energy,  adjust  himself  to  his  environ- 
ment. 

Rigid   adherence   to  tradition,  extreme  rulings,  and 
deeply  furrowed  acceptances  of  the  past  do 

Traditional-  .... 

ism  does  not      not  lend  themselves  to  initiative,  to  open- 
make  for  in-     mindedness,    to   leadership,    to    self-control. 

itiative 

What  would  have  been  the  achievements  of 
a  Michael  Angelo  or  a  Raphael,  a  Wagner  or  a  Beetho- 
ven, a  Goethe  or  an  Emerson,  a  Franklin  or  a  Newton, 
a  Gladstone  or  a  Lincoln,  had  these  minds  not  felt  free 
to  reach  forth  in  any  direction,  free  to  accept  all  the  in- 
spiration that  came  to  them  from  the  past,  free  to  ignore 
all  the  narrowing  influences  so  apparent  in  the  life  and 
work  of  most  of  us,  free  to  express  themselves  naturally, 
and  clearly,  and  without  restraint  ? 

William  Wallace  gives  us  as  clear  a  statement  as 
could  well  be  formulated,  of  the  ideal  of  an  education 
that  will  educate.  "  Mental  health  and  wealth,"  he  says, 
"do  not  depend  upon  a  mere  accumulation  of  single 
facts,  but  upon  solid  ideas  of  what  life  is  and  ought  to  be, 
and  what  the  world  around  us  really  means ;  it  does  not 
lie  in  confinement  to  a  fragmentary  life,  limited  in  its 
range  of  view,  and  moving  forever  in  the  same  monoto- 
nous routine,  but  in  a  large  and  free  scope  of  experience ; 
nor  does  it  lie  in  the  degree  of  variety  and  intensity  to 
which  we  can  bring  our  sensations  and  aspirations,  but 
in  acquiring  the  proper  estimate  of  values,  in  calming 
the  turmoil  of  temper  and  gaining  at  once  sweetness 
and  light,  that  gentle  reasonableness  which,  though  not 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  33 

less  free  to  receive  impressions  than  in  the  beginning  of 
life,  is  at  the  same  time  matured  by  experience  to  a 
wiser  judgment  of  their  comparative  worth.  The  true 
idea  of  a  fully  developed  personality  does  not  consist 
merely  in  a  keen  intellectual  acumen,  nor  in  an  intense 
but  inactive  susceptibility  to  the  moods  of  happy  feeling, 
nor  in  a  perpetual  unresting  activity ;  it  involves  a  bal- 
ance of  all  these  elements."*  And  this  experience, 
these  forces  that  play  backward  and  forward,  in  school 
and  out,  touching  the  pupil  in  his  every  occupation,  that 
have  direct  bearing  upon  his  present  and  that  can  be 
appreciated  by  him,  shall  we  not  consider  these  rather 
than  attempt  to  introduce  him  to  vague  and  indefinite 
elements  ? 

As  I  stood,  some  time  since,  beside  the  rude  dwellings 
of  a  simple  people  in  a  western  desert  and  watched  the 
natives  as  they  worked  at  rug  weaving  or  in  fashioning  a 
basket,  I  recalled  the  question  put  to  one  of  these  people 
by  an  eastern  woman  :  "  Isn't  it  too  bad,"  said  she,  "  that 
you  live  so  far  away  ? "  And  the  native  woman,  re- 
turning a  wondering  glance,  replied,  "  I  don't  live  far 
away,  I  live  right  here." 

While  the  work  of  the  school  must  be  such  as  to 
fit  those  who  form  the  school  community  to  adjust 
themselves  to  the  society  in  which  they  individually 
may  find  themselves,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  child  can  interpret  only  in  the  light  of  present 
experiences. 

*  Lectures  and  Essays  on  Natural  Theology  and  Ethics,  p.  297. 
Standards — 3 


34  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

THESES 

1.  The  value  of  education  has  been  recognized  by  all 
peoples,  but  from  various  standpoints. 

2.  The  aim  of  education  is  the  matter  of  chief  con- 
cern at  present. 

3.  The  consideration  of  the  relation  of  the  individual 
to  society  involves  the  study  of  two  elements, — the  psy- 
chological and  the  sociological. 

4.  In  determining  standards,   culture,  discipline  and 
information  values  are  variously  considered  as  basic. 

5.  Method  and  subject-matter  are  separate  and  dis- 
tinct factors. 

6.  The  school  should  inculcate  in  its  members  self- 
control,  leadership,  and  responsibility,  and  thus  develop 
initiative. 

TOPICS    FOR    STUDY 

1.  What  were  the  educational  ideals  in  early  Egypt, 
India,  China  ?     Compare  with  our  present  standards. 

2.  What  important  features  of  our  present  day  educa- 
tion seem  tc  have  had  their  foundations  in  the  civiliza- 
tion of  Greece  and  of  Rome  ? 

3.  What  are  the  main  facts  to  be  considered  in  en- 
deavoring to  determine  the  aims  of  education  ? 

4.  Show  that  the  acceptance  of  a  common  standard 
does  not  presuppose  similar  methods,  or  identical  applica- 
tion of  principles,  in  the  working  out  of  the  problems  in- 
volved. 


THE  AIM  OF  EDUCATION  35 

5.  Show  how  a  knowledge  of  the  past  in  history  and 
achievement  is  of  value  in  present-day  development. 

6.  When  society  "  demands  an  article,"  does  the  de- 
mand originate  with  society  or  with  an  individual, — one 
of  the  units  of  which  society  is  composed  ?     Is  this  de- 
mand ever  custom  or  fashion,  and  where  do  these  origi- 
nate ? 

7.  Consider  the  source  of  the  tendency  to  retain  the 
useful  and  to  eliminate  the  superficial.     Does  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  Biological  Conception  have  any  bearing  or 
application  here  ? 

8.  Discuss   fully  the  value  of  pure  knowledge;    of 
knowing  for  the  sake  of  knowing  without  regard  to  ap- 
plication of  facts  of  knowledge. 

9.  Make  a  list  of  subjects  that  seem  to  lend  them- 
selves chiefly  to  culture  giving ;  to  information ;  to  dis- 
cipline. 

10.  How  are  we  to  determine  what  subjects  should  be 
taught  and  the  relative  value  of  each  ? 

n.  Discuss  the  extent  to  which  the  school  would  be 
handicapped  by  the  elimination  of  any  one  of  the  several 
subjects  now  taught. 

12.  Compare  the  courses  of  study  of  the  more  im- 
portant normal  schools  of  the  country  as  to  relative 
time  spent  upon  the  various  educational  courses, — psy- 
chology, pedagogy,  history  of  education,  school  law, 
methods,  school  economy,  school  management,  school 
administration  and  the  like.  Can  you  reconcile  the  dis- 
crepancy between  the  time  spent  upon  psychology  and 


STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 


that  given  to  consideration  of  the  problems  of  school 
management  ? 


BAGLEY 
BUTLER 
DEWEY 
GORDY 

GREENWOOD 
HANUS 

HERBART 
HINSDALE 

HORNE 
McMURRY 

MONROE 

MOORE 
O'SHEA 
PAINTER 


PARKER 
PUTNAM 
SEELEY 


THORNDIKE 


CONSULT 

The  Educative  Process. 

Meaning  of  Education,  pp.  3-36. 

School  and  Society. 

A  Broader   Elementary   Education,   chaps,    i 

to  8,  inc. 

Successful  Teaching,  pp.  11-19. 
Educational    Aims    and    Educational    Values, 

chap.  i. 

Science  of  Education,  pp.  1-121. 
Art  of  Study,  chap.  5. 

Psychological  Principles  of  Education,  pp.  1-79. 
Elements    of   General  Method,  chaps,  i  &  2, 

pp.  1-84. 
Text-Book  in  the  History  of  Education,  pp. 

1-220. 

Science  of  Study,  chaps.  3,  4,  &  5. 
Education  as  Adjustment,  chaps.  4,  5,  &  15. 
Great  Pedagogical  Essays: 

"Laws"  of  Plato,  pp.  9-32. 

Politics  of  Aristotle,  pp.  34-60. 

Horace  Mann,  pp.  385-398. 
Talks  on  Pedagogics,  chaps,  i  &  16. 
Manual  of  Pedagogics,  chaps,  i  &  13. 
Elementary  Pedagogy,  chaps,  i,  2,  &  3. 
Foundation  of  Education,  chaps.  20  &  21. 
History  of  Education,  pp.  1-88. 
Principles  of  Teaching,  chaps,  i,  15,  &  16. 


Selections 
from 


CHAPTER   II 

THE      ELEMENTARY      CURRICULUM:      ITS 
MOTIVE   AND    CONTENT 

THE  thoughts  laid  down  in  the  following  pages  are 
centered  around  certain  ideas  which,  less  than  a  dec- 
ade ago,  began  to  take  definite  shape  in  many  minds. 
These  ideas,  while  even  now  somewhat  vague,  were  in  the 
earlier  days  chaotic.  Beginning  about  the  time  I  have 
indicated,  the  student  of  education  could  not  have  failed 
to  notice  a  certain  unrest  in  matters  educational ;  an  un- 
rest voicing  and  manifesting  itself  in  somewhat  different 
manner  and  with  more  positive  expression  than  formerly. 

I  am  likely  to  be  reminded  that  this  unrest  took  shape 

full  three  decades  past  and  that  a  constant 

An  Educa-        change  and  steady  advancement  have  been 

tional  Unrest 

Noticeable  noticeable  ever  since.  Some  are  perhaps 
willing  to  go  further  and  to  say  that  since  the 
times  of  John  Locke  and  Comenius,  of  Rousseau  and 
Pestalozzi,  of  Froebel  and  Herbart,  educational  thought 
and  practice  have  ever  been  moving  toward  a  higher 
level.  More  than  this,  we  should  probably  all  agree 
that  certain  fundamental  principles  laid  down  in  Aris- 
totle's Ethics  or  in  Plato's  Republic,  are  not  outgrown  at 
the  present  day. 

37 


38  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

Granting  this,  however,  we  must  admit  that  the  past 
few  years  have  wrought  an  additional  change  on  the  face 
of  educational  affairs.  True,  many  do  not  see  this;  or 
seeing,  will  not  admit.  They  must,  however,  eventually 
concede  it. 

For  a  long  time  past  it  has  been  the  secondary  school 
that  has  first  received  the  attention  of  educators,  when  a 
new  order  of  things  seems  imminent  or  desirable  in  the 
public  school.  So  in  England,  in  Germany,  in  America, 
has  the  secondary  condition  been  discussed.  The  full 
force  and  significance  of  these  discussions  is  now  being 
felt  by  what  is  far  the  most  important  and  vital  part  of 
the  whole  educational  organization  of  the  present — the 
elementary  public  school  of  America. 

Mr.  Michael  E.  Sadler,  a  thorough  English  education- 
alist, has  thrown  much  light  upon  the  problem  in  his  re- 
port on  "  The  Unrest  in  Secondary  Education  in  Ger- 
many and  Elsewhere."  *  Other  prominent  German, 
English,  and  French  school  men  have  agitated  the  prob- 
lem, while  with  us,  as  exponents  of  a  broader  elemen- 
tary school  curriculum,  may  be  mentioned,  Dr.  William 
T.  Harris,  Professor  John  Fiske,  Colonel  Francis  W. 
Parker,  President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  President 
Charles  W.  Eliot,  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Professor  William 
James,  Dr.  Frank  M.  McMurry,  Professor  John  Dewey, 
not  to  speak  of  a  host  of  others.  These  men  have,  each 
in  his  own  way,  been  insistent  in  demanding  in  our  school 
work  something  that  shall  be  real  rather  than  artificial, 

*  Special  Reports  on  Educational  Subjects,  vol.  9,  pp.  1-191. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  39 

vital  rather  than  indifferent.  They  have  pleaded  for  an 
education  such  as  has  been  aimed  at,  but  is  as  yet  far 
short  of  realization. 

Upon  certain  of  the  most  important  and  fundamental 

principles  underlying  our  educational  fabric, 

Lack  of  Ap-      there  is  and  has  been  an  almost  unanimous 

plication  of 

Principle  agreement.  It  is  only  when  we  as  individ- 
uals come  to  the  practice  of  these  princi- 
ples, only  when  an  application  is  made,  that  a  serious 
disagreement  is  noticeable.  Indeed,  it  is  only  too  fre- 
quently the  case  that  no  application  is  attempted.  How 
clearly  in  the  past  has  the  purpose  of  the  school  been 
stated,  and  how  almost  universal  has  been  the  acceptance 
of  the  definition.  In  actual  practice  the  work  has  not 
been  in  harmony  with  the  stated  purpose  of  the  school. 
There  is  little  contention  as  to  the  function  the  child  is 
to  serve  when  he  becomes  part  of  the  world  in  which  he 
shall  eventually  find  himself.  Our  methods  as  practised, 
however,  would  be  hardly  recognizable  as  having  any 
foundation  in  the  thought  for  future  citizenship.  Theory 
and  practice  are  at  variance,  and  as  a  result  violence  has 
been  done  the  child  ;  the  past  has  kept  its  hold  upon  the 
school  and  we  have  held  to  old  courses  of  study,  dusty 
with  layers  of  tradition,  or  mildewed  by  decades  of 
bigotry. 

In  some  instances,  to  be  sure,  the  better  in  the  old  ed- 
ucation has  been  displaced  by  the  less  valuable  in  the  so- 
called  new.  Subject  has  been  added  to  subject,  scheme 
to  scheme,  creed  to  creed,  until  pupils  and  teachers  alike 


40  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

find  themselves  in  an  educational  maze,  from  which  only 
the  freedom  of  the  outside  world  can  extricate  them. 
This  unrest  then,  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  is 
felt  from  the  kindergarten  through  the  uni- 
versity.     From  what  was  at  first  a  feeling, 


m  the  inter-     there   has  developed  a  conviction  that  our 
Few  schools  have  too  long  existed  for  the  benefit 

of  the  few.  The  upper  grades  are  adminis- 
tered in  the  interest  of  the  six  per  cent,*  who  pass  from 
the  primary  years  ;  high  school  courses  of  study  are 
carried  on  with  the  view  of  meeting  the  requirements  of 
a  fortunate  one  per  cent  which  is  graduated  from  them  ; 
while  college  and  university  curricula  take  into  account 
only  a  meager  number,  who  through  circumstance  or  by 
birth  are  enabled  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages 
of  a  higher  education.  What  our  elementary  schools 
should  furnish  above  all  else,  is  the  elements  of  such 
culture  and  thought-bearing  subjects  as  shall  the  better 
introduce  the  pupil  into  the  social,  the  industrial,  the 
moral  life  of  the  day.  In  this  regard  the  school  of  ele- 
mentary grade  is  at  present  a  long  call  from  squaring 
with  its  avowed  mission. 

The  importance  of  our  subject  is  apparent,  for,  with 
due  regard  to  all  kinds  and  grades  of  school  work,  we 
must  recognize  that  the  elementary  is  the  most  important 
school  department.  Why  ?  First,  because  it  furnishes 
the  foundation  upon  which  the  future  educational  super- 
structure must  rest  and  has  to  do  with  the  child  at  his 

*  Report,  Commissioner  of  Education,  1903,  vol.  I,  p.  xvi. 


41 

most  impressionable  period,  and  second,  because  the  great 
mass  of  children  obtain  all  the  school  education  they  ever 
receive  in  the  elementary  school. 

We  may  therefore  ask  ourselves  the  following  ques- 
tions :  First,  How  does  the  elementary  school  of  the  pres- 
ent meet  the  demands  imposed  here  and  now  ?  Second, 
At  what  points  in  the  curriculum  is  adjustment  necessary  ? 
Third,  How  may  the  proper  conditions  be  brought  about  ? 

That  our  elementary  schools  are  superior  to  those  of 
the  past  there  can  be  no  question.  It  is  just 
as  true  that  they  do  not  meet  the  present 


notAde-  day  conditions  and  necessities.     So  strongly 

quate 

has  the  tide  set  in  favor  of  something  of  a 
more  rational  nature,  and  so  evidently  has  a  feeling  of 
unrest  been  sweeping  over  the  country  that  many  pro- 
gressive localities  have  already  instituted  radical  changes  ; 
and  literature  setting  forth  the  real  state  of  affairs  and 
offering  valuable  suggestions  as  to  the  subject-matter  of 
the  curriculum  has  not  been  wanting.  It  is  Emerson 
who  says,  "Is  it  possible  that  I  who  get  indefinite  quan- 
tities of  sugar,  hominy,  cotton,  buckets,  crockery  ware 
and  letter  paper,  by  simply  signing  my  name  to  a  check 
in  favor  of  John  Smith  &  Co.,  traders,  get  the  fair  share 
of  exercise  to  my  faculties  by  that  act  which  nature  in- 
tended for  me,  in  making  all  these  farfetched  matters  im- 
portant to  my  comfort  ?  It  is  Smith  himself,  and  his 
carriers,  and  dealers  and  manufacturers  ;  it  is  the  sailor, 
the  hydrographer,  the  butcher,  the  negro,  the  hunter  and 
the  planter  who  intercepted  the  sugar  of  the  sugar  and 


42  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

the  cotton  of  the  cotton.     They  have  got  the  education, 
I  only  the  commodity." 

The  great  masses  of  boys  and  girls  who  are  early 
compelled  to  take  up  the  problems  of  actual 

life»  should  find  in  the  sch°o1  that  which  has 


the  Needs  of  been  prepared  expressly  for  them  and  which 
best  meets  their  needs.  They  find  instead, 
work  better  suited  to  those  who,  whether  they  will  or 
not,  enter  and  take  advantage  of  upper  school  work. 
With  the  proper  adjustment  of  elementary  school  courses, 
all  that  great  mass  of  pupils  who  leave  below  high  school 
age  would  go  out  better  prepared  to  take  part  in  the 
life  before  them,  and  many  who  now  leave  school  at  an 
early  age,  would  continue  their  work  into  and  beyond  the 
high  school. 

To  reach  the  great  mass  of  boys  and  girls,  and  not 
only  to  reach  them  but  to  keep  them  in  school  for  a 
somewhat  longer  period,  is  then  our  problem.  The  tend- 
ency of  educational  thought  is  to  this  end.  His  time 
in  school  is  much  too  short  for  the  boy  to  acquire  those 
elements  that  make  for  moral  uplift,  industrial  knowl- 
edge, social  ideas  and  the  faculty  of  leadership.  The 
reader  will  appreciate,  I  am  sure,  that  I  have  in  mind  the 
unnumbered  many  who  progress  no  further  than  the  ele- 
mentary school. 

Various  are  the  causes  of  noncontinuance  at  school  : 
poverty,  sickness,  overcrowding,  poor  enforcement  of 
attendance  laws,  inability  to  keep  pace  with  a  given  class, 
indifference,  the  monotonous  grind  of  the  ordinary  re- 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  43 

view — all  conspire  to  lessen  the  tuition  in  school.     More 
than  all  else,  however,  and  deeper  and  more 
So™?onun-      fundamental  than  these,  is  the  fact  that  af- 
uance  in  ter  the  pupil  enters  the  school,  the  latter  does 

not  furnish  that  which  is  demanded  in  actual 
life.  The  supposition  has  been  that  the  school  is  the 
medium  through  which  the  pupil  is  enabled  to  determine 
the  line  of  work,  occupation  or  profession  he  is  best 
fitted  to  enter,  after  first  bestowing  upon  him  a  general 
culture,  universally  essential.  Should  this  be  the  correct 
view,  which  it  probably  is  in  part  only,  the  present 
courses  of  study  would  not  work  to  the  desired  end. 

In  his  masterful  address  before  the  Department  of 
Superintendence  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  Dr.  Frank  M.  Mc- 
Murry  charges  that  the  common  school  curriculum  is 
seriously  overcrowded,  but  questions  whether  there  is 
pressure  from  without.  He  says :  "  When  we  get  be- 
yond the  three  R's,  spelling,  and  a  modicum  of  geog- 
raphy, and  grammar,  there  is  no  public  pressure  brought 
to  bear  upon  teachers  compelling  them  to  cover  any 
recorded  amount."  *  Is  there  pressure  then  from 
within  ?  Just  as  pressure  is  being  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  high  school  by  the  university  above  it,  so  is 
the  elementary  school  being  unduly  influenced  by  the 
school  of  secondary  grade.  As  an  example  of  this,  our 
high  schools  all  over  the  country  have  added  to  their 
courses  advanced  or  university  algebra.  Mathematics 
teachers  themselves  admit  that  with  the  exception  of  a 

*  Proceedings  of  the  Department  of  Superintendence,  1904,  p.  31. 


44  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

very  few  of  those  who  pass  on  to  the  higher  institutions 
of  learning,  the  students  will  make  little  or  no  use  of 
this  study.  It  is  exceedingly  abstract  and  difficult ;  and 
the  time  would  better  be  spent  upon  some  subject  that 
is  in  fact  of  high  school  grade.  In  the  same  way  the 
grammar  grades  are  being  afflicted  with  elementary  al- 
gebra, with  technical  English,  complicated  grammatical 
forms  and  with  a  quantity  of  material  that  has  no  place 
below  the  high  school. 

"  To  teach  men  how  they  may  learn  to  grow  independ- 
ently and  for  themselves  is  perhaps  the  greatest  service 
that  one  man  can  do  for  another,"*  says  one;  but  this 
cannot  be  done  through  the  use  of  our  present  curricu- 
lum. "  That  knowledge  is  of  most  worth,"  says  Presi- 
dent Jordan,  "  which  can  be  most  directly  wrought  into 
the  fabric  of  our  lives.  That  discipline  of  most  value- 
which  will  best  serve  us  in  quietly  unfolding  our  own 
individualities."  With  a  more  serviceable  curriculum, 
Ruskin  would  have  had  less  cause  to  declare  that 
"  Modern  Education  for  the  most  part  signifies  giving 
people  the  faculty  of  thinking  wrongly  on  every  conceiv- 
able subject  of  importance  to  them."  No  wonder  the 
old  song  ran  : 

"There's  a  lot  of  things  that  never  go  by  rule; 
There's  an  awful  lot  of  knowledge 
That  you  never  get  at  college, 
There's  a  lot  of  things  you  never  learn  at  school." 

*  Jowett,  in  a  letter  to  Palgrave :  Life  and  Letters,  Abbott  and  Camp- 
bell, vol.  i,  p.  414. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  45 

To  speak  further  of  the  unfitness  of  the  present  day 
curriculum  to  meet  present  needs  would  be 
to  deal  with  platitudes.  Let  us  consider  at 


aii  school  what  points  adjustment  may  be  made.  To 
say  where  such  adjustment  should  begin 
would  be  an  almost  hopeless  task.  In  arithmetic  and 
language,  in  history  and  geography,  in  reading,  and  even 
in  more  progressive  schools,  where  such  work  is  given  as 
nature  study,  manual  training  and  art  subjects,  the  husk 
is  too  often  mistaken  for  the  kernel.  The  form  rather 
than  the  content  is  made  the  chief  issue  ;  the  symbol  is 
made  to  stand  for  the  thing.  The  spirit  is  lost,  the 
letter  is  the  goal. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  suggest  an  addition  of  subjects 
to  an  already  overfull  curriculum.  I  suggest  rather  an 
enrichment  of  the  school  work  through  a  process  of 
elimination,  and  by  intensifying  at  many  points.  In  the 
schools  of  the  past  the  work  was  usually  well  done, 
and  if  the  curriculum  was  narrow,  meager  and  unin- 
viting, it  was  conscientious  and  thorough.  Little  by 
little,  while  our  schools  have  increased  in  efficiency,  they 
seem  many  times  to  have  lost  the  thoroughgoing  char- 
acter and  sincerity  so  noticeable  in  those  of  former 
times.  With  an  accumulation  of  subjects  we  must  guard 
against  superficiality  and  shallowness.  It  is  now  gener- 
ally admitted  that  we  do  not  so  much  need  additions  to 
the  curriculum  in  the  form  of  new  subjects,  as  a  filtering 
out  of  subjects  so  that  we  shall  teach  and  teach  better 
only  the  essentials. 


46  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

In  the  elementary  school  it  is  perhaps  in  arithmetic 
and  language,  including  reading,  that  the  most  pressing 
need  of  adjustment  is  seen. 

The  object  teaching  in  these  subjects  furnished  an  ad- 
vanced step  over  the  older  methods.  But 

Arithmetic 

what  do  we  find  ?  In  arithmetic,  for  exam- 
ple, to  use  a  crude  illustration,  the  2  +  2  =  4  problem,  typi- 
cal of  the  abstract,  lifeless  form  of  work  so  long  adhered 
to,  was  changed  to  the  so-called  concrete  form,  and  read, 
two  apples  and  two  apples  are  four  apples.  A  moment's 
thought,  however,  will  convince  us  that  the  latter  form 
of  the  problem  lies  nearly  or  quite  as  far  from  the  con- 
crete as  did  the  former.  Here,  too,  it  grows  out  of  a 
mere  statement  of  fact  and  not  of  the  life  interests  of 
the  pupil.  It  should  find  its  application  in  an  immediate 
need.  "  A  thing  is  concrete  when  it  is  in  the  midst  of 
its  meanings  ;  a  word  to  be  concrete  must  not  be  disso- 
ciated from  the  idea  for  which  it  stands,  but  should  ap- 
pear in  its  context,  in  the  midst  of  its  settings."  * 

Much  of  the  arithmetic  now  taught  in  the  schools 
would  come  naturally  to  the  pupil  without  the  aid  of 
school  or  teacher,  if  we  could  but  be  patient.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  not  safe  to  say  what  portion  of  the  en- 
tire arithmetic  work  would  better  be  eliminated  from  the 
curriculum  ;  certainly  a  large  part  of  it.  I  find  children 
of  sixth  and  seventh  grade  ability  doing  whole  pages  of 
problems  under  the  heading  time.  After  the  table  of 
measures  has  been  committed,  there  are  scores  of  prob- 
*  Borrowed  from  Professor  Frank  M.  McMurry. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  47 

lems  of  which  this  is  a  type  :  Multiply  i  hour,  14  min- 
utes and  25  seconds  by  13.  When  questioned  as  to 
what  they  are'  doing,  these  pupils,  as  bright  and  well 
taught  as  the  vast  majority,  answer  that  they  are  multi- 
plying. If  questioned  further  as  to  why  they  are  doing 
this  particular  thing,  they  say,  "  to  get  the  answer." 

Ella  Calista  Wilson,  in  her  recent  book,  Pedagogues 
and  Parents,  tells  us  that  when  a  child  she  determined, 
as  she  put  it,  "  to  make  a  decent  arithmetic  "  when  she 
should  be  "  big."  What  a  commentary  upon  arithmetics 
and  our  use  of  them  ! 

Look  at  it  from  whatever  side  you  will,  the  idea  is 
forced  upon  you  that  the  curriculum  of  the  elementary 
school  is  not  calculated  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  boy 
or  girl.  The  child  may  be  able  to  tell  you  the  least 
common  multiple  of  4,  8  and  1 6,  or  the  greatest  common 
divisor  of  3,  6  and  9,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  he  can  tell  you 
why  in  New  York  City  the  market  price  per  dozen  of 
oranges  is  greater  than  that  of  apples,  or  why  in  certain 
parts  of  the  country  railroad  engines  use  wood  rather 
than  coal  for  fuel.  And  the  saddest  part  of  the  whole 
matter  is  that  after  he  closes  his  arithmetic,  the  pupil  will 
probably  never  have  need  for  the  facts  he  has  learned  re- 
garding the  least  common  multiple  or  the  greatest  com- 
mon divisor. 

It  may  not  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  the  newsboy 
upon  the  street,  rough  and  unkempt,  has  a  completer 
knowledge  of  arithmetic  that  fits  for  life  than  have  his 
fellows  in  the  school.  It  is  recorded  that  a  New  Hamp- 


48  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

shire  schoolboy,  with  the  mountains  for  playmates,  studied 
geology  from  a  text-book,  but  was  unable  to  say  if  he  had 
ever  seen  an  igneous  rock.  Thinking  fathers  and  mothers 
are  expressing  a  preference  for  the  arithmetic  given  in 
the  well-ordered  commercial  school,  to  that  taught  in  the 
grades  of  the  public  school,  and  this  for  the  simple  rea- 
son that  they  find  the  former  to  be  of  actual  value  in  the 
life  work  of  the  individual. 

At  many  points  the  arithmetic  should  be  simplified 
and  reduced.  What  necessity  is  there  for  spending  so 
much  time  and  energy  upon  such  topics  as  Longitude 
and  Time,  Partial  Payments,  Involution,  Evolution,  Pro- 
gression, Least  Common  Multiple,  Greatest  Common  Di- 
visor, complicated  problems  in  Stocks  and  Bonds,  and  so 
on  and  so  on  ?  Aside  from  something  spoken  of  vaguely 
as  mental  discipline  and  development,  the  pupil  gains  lit- 
tle other  than  a  bad  conscience,  an  abhorrence  for  arith- 
metic and  a  dislike  for  school. 

Teachers  constantly  complain  that  students  come  to 
them  lacking  in  knowledge  of  arithmetical  processes  and 
in  ability  to  apply  principles  they  are  supposed  to  have 
learned.  Surely  this  inability  is  not  due  to  lack  of  time 
spent  upon  the  subject  of  arithmetic,  as  in  most  schools 
it  is  upon  the  program  continuously  for  the  first  eight 
years  of  school  life. 

I  have  suggested  that  in  language  and  reading  adjust- 
ment is  needed.  One  of  the  chief  functions 

Language 

of  the  elementary  school  should  be  to  give 
the  child  a  love  for  reading  and  an  appreciation  for  good 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  49 

literature.  To  train  in  the  use  of  simple,  direct  and  cor- 
rect language  is  indeed  a  necessary  part  of  the  work. 
But  above  all  else  the  child  or  the  man  who  is  not  at 
home  with  books,  who  does  not  make  friends  with  the 
finest  in  literature,  who  does  not  read  and  from  his  read- 
ing draw  inspiration  and  enthusiasm  and  power  for  good, 
has  been  cheated  of  the  best  that  the  school  should 
give.  It  is  the  book,  many  times,  which  keeps  the 
boy  from  being  idle.  Idleness  breeds  crime ;  and  thous- 
ands of  boys  are  idle  because,  as  they  say,  there  is 
nothing  to  do ;  no  place  to  go.  Consequently  they  are 
often  in  the  company  of  those  from  whom  they  learn 
only  evil. 

In  language  work  the  child  may  be  able  to  supply  the 
missing  words  in  the  text,  but  does  he  contribute  a  read- 
able paper  in  the  history  class,  or  speak  intelligently  when 
giving  an  explanation  ?  In  reading,  the  words  may  be 
spoken,  but  is  the  selection  one  having  any  connec- 
tion with  the  child's  needs  ?  Will  it  broaden  and  deepen 
his  sympathies,  extend  his  knowledge  of  things  worth 
while,  and  force  him  to  feel,  and  be  and  live  his  better 
self  ? 

The  reading  matter  offered  the  grammar-school  boy 
or  girl  should  be  carefully  selected  and  the  pupil  guided 
in  his  reading.  The  short  stories  of  which  the  news- 
papers and  magazines  are  now  full  are  doing  much  to 
create  fragmentary  and  unorganized  reading.  To  inter- 
pret the  printed  page  and  to  give  meaning  and  life  to  the 
sentence  is  an  art  indeed.  It  is  an  uncommon  experi- 

Standards — 4 


50  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

ence  to  find  a  student  of  high  school  age  who  can  gather 
from  his  reading  the  thought  therein  contained  and  give  it 
clearly  and  easily  to  his  listeners.  In  fact,  the  average 
pupil  finds  difficulty  in  reading  properly  his  problem  in 
arithmetic  ;  and  failure  in  chemistry  and  physics  is  often 
due  to  faulty  interpretation  of  the  text. 

The  subject  of  geography  furnishes  a  further  illustra- 
tion of  the  necessity  for  an  adjustment  of  the 

Geography 

elementary  curriculum.  Few  teachers  there 
are  indeed,  who  have  not,  in  some  measure  at  least,  swung 
away  from  the  lifeless  method  of  teaching  geography 
from  the  text-book — a  method  that  assumes  that  geog- 
raphy teaching  means  the  locating  of  cities,  the  bound- 
ing of  states,  and  the  tracing  of  water  courses.  For  the 
most  part,  however,  we  find  as  yet  very  little  of  real  ge- 
ography taught  in  the  schools.  Memory  is  relied  upon  ; 
thought  is  not  developed. 

In  a  recent  examination  of  text-books  in  geography, 
looking  toward  the  adoption  of  a  text  for  school  use,  ten 
books  were  chosen  for  examination  and  from  these  the 
five  best  were  selected.  As  one  test  of  the  relative 
merits  of  these  several  texts,  the  following  method  was 
employed.  Beginning  in  each  text  at  the  portion  deal- 
ing with  the  United  States,  the  first  one  hundred  ques- 
tions were  chosen.  Out  of  these  one  hundred  questions 
one  book  contained  not  a  single  question  involving  any 
element  of  thought ;  a  second  book  contained  three  ques- 
tions of  thought  value  ;  a  third,  eleven  such  questions ;  a 
fourth,  thirty-two ;  and  the  fifth  book,  forty-seven.  In 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  51 

other  words,  our  best  texts  in  geography  upon  the  market 
to-day,  if  we  may  judge  upon  the  basis  of  this  examination, 
consider  memory  work  of  more  importance  than  thought 
processes.  More  value  is  placed  upon  the  ability  to  lo- 
cate a  mountain  system  upon  the  map  or  to  name  the 
three  longest  rivers  in  a  given  area,  than  to  know  why 
Chicago  is  situated  advantageously  as  to  commerce  and 
manufacture,  or  why  there  is  more  rainfall  in  the  Con- 
necticut valley  than  in  southwestern  New  Mexico. 

No  more,  however,  may  the  pupil's  time  be  spent  upon 
vague,  indefinite  things  or  upon  those  of  little  value  :  mere 
facts  and  figures,  dates  and  places,  locations,  boundaries 
and  battles.  Each  of  these  has  a  place,  but  to  the  grade 
pupil  so  much  can  be  given  that  is  rich  and  vitalizing 
that  great  care  must  be  exercised  in  the  choosing.  It  is 
no  longer  a  question  of  what  is  good  in  education  ;  it  is  a 
question  rather  of  what  is  best. 

Geography  in  its  commercial,  its  industrial  and  social 
phases,  may  be  made  to  appeal  wonderfully  to  the  pupil's 
interest  and  bring  him  into  close  touch  with  everyday 
experiences  of  life.  Problems  with  a  geographical  setting 
should  be  substituted  for  isolated  processes.  Instead  of 
abstract,  arithmetical  facts,  problems  regarding  the  actual 
tonnage  of  vessels,  the  quantity  of  turpentine,  copper  or 
codfish  produced  in  a  given  locality,  computation  of  the 
cost  of  transportation  and  of  the  turning  of  the  raw  mate- 
rial into  the  finished  product,  and  consideration  of  the  vari- 
ous mathematical  processes  involved, — these  may  well 
have  a  place  in  the  school  work  and  will  serve  to  illus- 


52  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

irate  the  point  under  discussion,  that  arithmetic  is 
as  necessary  to  a  proper  understanding  of  geogra- 
phy as  is  reading  and  language  to  an  appreciation  of 
number. 

One  more  illustration  will  suffice.     That  branch  of 
school  knowledge  that  may  properly  fall  un- 


^  ^  nea(j  Qf  ^  manual  or  industrial  arts 
also  offers  a  field  for  adjustment.  The  so- 
called  traditional  subjects  are  thought  subjects  mainly. 
We  have  said,  and  truly,  that  book  lessons  only  do  not 
meet  the  demands  of  the  developing  child,  as  little  ex- 
pression accompanies  the  learning  process.  There  is 
ample  impression  ;  there  is  slight  expression.  In  order 
to  get  the  most  from  our  history  or  arithmetic  or  lan- 
guage, the  motor  element  must  come  in. 

While  the  introduction  of  hand  work  in  school  has 
done  much  good,  we  have  here  swung  as  far 

Bothlmpres-  .  . 

sion  and  EX-     to  the  opposite  side,  and  while  expression  is 


not  lacking'  the  thought  element  plays  all  too 
any  School  small  a  part  in  our  manual  training  courses. 

Neither  in  work  at  the  bench,  in  sewing,  in 
the  cooking  room,  in  the  various  hand  work  processes, 
nor  in  the  art  subjects,  is  the  power  to  make  or  construct 
necessarily  supplemented  by  the  power  to  think.  This 
last  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the  fact  that  for  the  most 
part  the  child  is  not  allowed  to  put  himself  into  the  work. 
He  follows  arbitrarily  some  set  of  exercises  or  a  fixed  cur- 
riculum and  performs  in  a  more  or  less  mechanical  man- 
ner a  prescribed  course  of  work,  and  this  without  par- 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  53 

ticular  reference  to  its  fitness  for  his  own  individual 
needs. 

"  You  can  teach  a  man,"  says  Ruskin,  "  to  draw  a 
straight  line  and  to  cut  one,  to  strike  a  curved  line  and 
to  carve  it,  and  to  cut  and  carve  any  number  of  given 
lines  with  admirable  speed  and  perfect  precision,  and  you 
find  his  work  perfect  of  its  kind  ;  but  if  you  ask  him  to 
think  about  any  of  these  forms,  to  consider  if  he  cannot 
find  any  better  in  his  own  head,  he  stops ;  his  execution 
becomes  hesitating,  he  thinks,  and,  ten  to  one  he  thinks 
wrong  ;  ten  to  one  he  makes  a  mistake  in  the  first  touch 
he  gives  his  work  as  a  thinking  being.  But  you  have 
made  a  man  of  him  for  all  that.  He  was  only  a  ma- 
chine before, — an  animated  tool." 

If  it  is  true  that  a  lesson  in  history  is  really  valuable 
only  when,  out  of  the  data  and  lists  of  facts, 
Thought  in  the  pupils  draw  conclusions  and  reason  from 
p^s«*  cause  to  effect  and  from  effect  to  cause, 
seeking  an  explanation  of  laws  and  princi- 
ples in  the  life  of  the  day,  so  may  we  believe  that  in  the 
manual  processes  the  thought  side  must  be  emphasized 
by  reasoning  out  the  why,  and  by  seeking  to  develop 
new  or  independent  methods  of  procedure. 

May  not  work  of  a  constructive  nature,  the  industrial 

processes,  properly  carried  on,  furnish  one 

contractive     °*  tne  foundation  stones  of  the  future  pri- 

work  in  mary  school  curriculum  ?     Dr.  Dewey  says 

that  the  curriculum  should  be  "  so  selected 

and  organized  as  to  provide  the  material  for  affording 


54  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

the  child  a  consciousness  of  the  world  in  which  he  has 
to  play  a  part,  and  the  relations  he  has  to  meet."*  Ac- 
cepting this,  are  not  the  media  of  the  shop,  the  labora- 
tory, the  studio,  the  garden,  best  suited  to  bring  about 
the  desired  results  ? 

In  an  address  before  the  Department  of  Superintend- 
ence at  Cincinnati,  in  February,  1903,  President  Eliot 
said  :  "  I  believe  there  is  as  much  mental  training  in 
manual  work  as  in  any  book  whatsoever  "  ;  and  again,  "  I 
believe  there  is  more  value  in  manual  work  than  in  nine- 
tenths  of  the  arithmetic  in  the  schools." 

Teachers  generally  seem  to  be  recognizing  the  fact 
that  in  no  way  can  we  so  well  form  a  school  that  shall 
be  paralleled  with,  rather  than  angular  to,  the  actual, 
everyday  life  of  the  child  and  the  adult,  as  by  adjusting 
our  programs  to  the  industrial  and  social  forms  that  go 
to  make  up  our  everyday  existence. 

How  long  shall  we  allow  a  false  psychology  to  hamper  us 
and  to  shape  our  school  work — a  psychology 
Psychology7  which  is  largely  responsible  for  the  stereo- 
typed form  that  hand  work  has  taken  in  the 
past  ?  This  psychology,  true  enough,  has  in  a  measure 
recognized  the  child  as  the  most  vital  element  to  be  con- 
sidered, but  being  based  upon  false  assumptions,  the 
practices  growing  out  of  the  application  of  this  psychol- 
ogy have  left  the  child  largely  out  of  the  educational 
equation.  This  so-called  faculty  psychology  has  insisted 
that  the  mind  is  cut  up  into  divisions,  each  division  being 

*  Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education,  p.  26. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  55 

devoted  to  a  given  mental  faculty  or  process.  These 
faculties  or  attributes  of  the  mind  are  parceled  out  and 
labeled  as  memory,  judgment,  imagination,  reason,  and 
the  like,  each  faculty  being  trained  through  the  presen- 
tation and  assimilation  of  certain  study  material.  Not 
only  is  this  held  to  be  true,  but  more ;  it  is  conceived 
that  such  habits  as  neatness,  exactness,  precision,  hon- 
esty and  accuracy,  are  developed  through  the  perform- 
ance of  certain  tasks,  or  by  engaging  in  various  motor 
exercises.  In  other  words,  a  particular  faculty  or  habit 
is  trained,  not  so  much  in  a  general  way  along  with  other 
tendencies,  but  in  a  special  sense,  by  a  special  method, 
or  through  a  particular  medium.  One  conclusion  to  be 
drawn  from  this  is  that  the  student,  careful,  accurate 
and  discriminating  in  his  manual  work,  will  exemplify 
these  qualities  in  all  other  school  departments. 

That  this  is  not  the  case  in  its  broadest  conception, 
there  seems  little  room  for  doubt.  "  Acute  powers  of 
observation  and  memory  might  be  developed  by  studying 
Chinese  characters.  Acuteness  in  reasoning  might  be 
got  by  discussion  of  the  scholastic  subtleties  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  The  simple  fact  is  that  there  is  no  isolated 
faculty  of  observation,  or  memory,  or  reasoning,  any  more 
than  there  is  an  original  faculty  of  blacksmithing,  car- 
pentering or  steam  engineering.  These  faculties  simply 
mean  that  particular  impulses  and  habits  have  been  co- 
ordinated and  framed  with  reference  to  accomplishing 
certain  definite  kinds  of  work.  Precisely  the  same 
thing  holds  for  the  so-called  mental  faculties.  They  are 


56  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

not  powers  in  themselves  but  such  only  with  reference 
to  the  ends  to  which  they  are  put,  the  services  which 
they  have  to  perform.  Hence,  they  cannot  be  located 
or  discussed  as  powers  upon  a  theoretical,  but  only  upon 
a  practical,  basis.  We  need  to  know  the  social  situation 
with  reference  to  which  the  individual  will  have  to  use 
ability  to  observe,  recollect,  imagine  and  reason,  before 
we  can  get  any  intelligent  and  concrete  basis  for 
telling  what  a  training  of  mental  powers  actually  means, 
either  in  the  general  principles  or  in  its  working 
details."  * 

To  be  sure  a  boy  made  careful  in  the  shop  has  a  ten- 
dency to  be  careful  in  the  recitation  room. 
Helps In'ttfe      This  is  one  of  the  strong  arguments  in  favor 
Formation  of     of  manual  training  in  the  school.     Since  the 

Right  Habits 

manual  processes  are  transparent,  so  far  as 
teacher  and  pupil  are  concerned,  and  since  in  dealing 
with  them  slight  opportunity  is  offered  for  deception,  we 
have  in  the  arts  a  mighty  power  for  good,  making  for 
the  establishment  of  right  habits.  While  certain  so- 
called  "  faculties  "  may  not  be  trained,  it  is  perhaps  true 
that  the  individual  will  here  form  habits  of  mind  that 
will  render  him  more  efficient  than  he  would  other- 
wise be. 

The  change  in  present  day  thought  does  not  mini- 
mize the  value  of  handwork.  It  will  appeal  to  many 
who  can  be  reached  through  no  other  channel.  Out- 
ward form,  technique,  system  and  sequence,  while  hav- 

•Dewey:    Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Edttcation,  p.  13. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  57 

ing  a  legitimate  place,  must  be  subordinated  to  thought, 
to  values,  and  to  utility.  We  must  realize,  too,  that  the 
truly  utilitarian  is  not  far  removed  from  the  truly  educa- 
tional, and  that  the  essence  of  the  one  is  the  essential 
in  the  other. 

In  discussing  the  motive  and  content  of  the  curriculum, 
we  shall  have  to  consider  the  complexity  of 
of  society7  our  industrial  life  and  the  deep  significance 
of  the  industrial  processes  to  every  member 
of  society.  In  an  ever  increasing  ratio,  we  are,  through 
these  changes,  becoming  creatures  of  interdependence. 
The  coat  I  wear,  the  bread  and  the  fruit  and  the  sugar 
that  contributed  to  my  last  meal,  the  telephone  that  calls 
me  from  my  task,  the  stove  that  makes  it  possible  for  me 
to  warm  my  room,  and  the  roof  that  now  shelters  me, 
the  bicycle  that  conveys  me  to  town,  and  the  paper 
upon  which  is  written  the  welcome  letter  I  receive,  are 
necessities  and  comforts  and  luxuries,  and  for  which  I 
am  indebted  to  my  fellows  in  this  and  the  farthest  lands 
of  the  sea.  No  longer  do  we  supply  ourselves  with  our 
daily  needs,  but  through  an  industrial  and  economic  reci- 
procity, each  one  in  turn  becomes,  in  fact,  "  his  brother's 
keeper." 

The  industrial  argument  is  not  external  as  might  seem 
to  be  the  case  at  first  blush.  It  is  dynamic,  rather.  Be- 
cause the  nation  is  rapidly  developing  a  manufacturing 
and  industrial  bias,  it  does  not  follow  that  there  is  only 
a  passing  significance  here  to  the  schools.  The  demand 
for  changed  conditions  is  psychologic,  expressing  itself 


58  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

through  the  commercial  spirit ;  it  comes  from  within  ; 
and  more  and  more  are  we  beginning  to  see  that  work 
to  be  educational  must  be  purposeful.  As  Professor 
Jackman  puts  it,  "  The  first  demand  of  the  mind  is 
for  motive."  * 

It  is  not  necessary  to  elaborate  further.  Enough  has 
been  said  to  show  that  in  each  school  subject  there  is 
ample  need  of  adjustment,  of  cutting  down  and  of  en- 
richment of  the  subject-matter. 

In  his  article,  Experiments  upon  Children,  Dr.  G.  Stan- 
ley Hall  speaks  of  the  present  as  a  "  metamorphic  pe- 
riod "  in  education  and  then  goes  on  to  say  :  "  A  mere 
list  of  fads  now  in  practice  in  various  places  would  make 
a  long  article.  Idiotic  busy  work  in  the  lower  grades  ; 
learning  to  read  without  knowing  the  alphabet,  so  that 
occasionally  children  old  enough  to  use  the  dictionary 
have  to  make  up  their  arrears  of  knowledge  to  do  so; 
blob  drawing  ;  typewriting  and  shorthand  in  high  school ; 
four  foreign  languages  for  boys  and  girls  in  the  early 
teens  who  have  almost  nothing  in  their  minds  to  express 
in  the  vernacular  ;  Latin  and  algebra  in  the  grammar 
school ;  wood  and  iron  work  in  manual  training  courses 
that  are  wooden  in  intelligence  and  iron  in  their  inflexi- 
bility ;  sharply  demarcated  schools  and  theories  of  physi- 
cal training  which  will  not  harmonize  and  give  the  chil- 
dren the  best  in  all ;  metaphysics  of  the  effete  German 
school  for  kindergartners,  who  ought  to  know  something 
of  nursing  as  taught  to  high  school  graduates  and  to 

*  Elementary  School  Teacher,  vol.  5,  p.  60. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  59 

know  the  child's  body  which  at  that  age  most  needs 
care  ;  interest  in  the  finished  product,  which  is  used  for 
show,  rather  than  in  educational  values  ;  everywhere  and 
perhaps  especially  in  English,  content  and  substance  sub- 
ordinated to  form ;  method  whipped  up  to  a  sillabub  that 
suggests  an  analogy  between  the  graduates  of  certain  nor- 
mal schools  and  the  mediaeval  barber's  apprentice,  who 
could  set  up  for  himself  only  when  he  could  whip  two 
ounces  of  soap  into  barrels  of  lather  ;  the  mechanism  of 
marks  and  hearing  lessons,  instead  of  teaching  ;  the 
college  dominating  the  high  school,  which  is  really 
the  people's  college,  with  its  excessive  entrance  exam- 
inations ;  distraction  among  the  multiplicity  of  differ- 
ent topics, — these  are  some  of  the  dangers,  of  which 
some  are  universal,  and  others  dominant  in  certain 
places."  * 

While  we  may  not  subscribe  to  all  that  Dr.  Hall  says, 
we  should  at  least  be  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  his  mes- 
sage. The  curriculum  has  indeed  been  broadened,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  has  not  been  made  sufficiently  deep. 
In  just  the  same  degree  that  school  work  does  not  furnish 
power,  does  not  put  the  pupil  in  possession  of  himself,  in 
just  so  far  is  it  failing  in  its  mission. 

There  is  one  factor,  however,  that  must  not  be  over- 
looked in  our  discussion  ;  a  factor  that  rises 
as  a  Factor*  above  system,  or  curriculum,  a  factor  that 
is  greater  than  means  or  methods  or  courses 
of  study :  a  factor  without  which  our  schools  are  poor 

*  Good  Housekeeping,  vol.  37,  no.  4,  p.  338. 


60  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

indeed :  the  personality  of  the  teacher.  It  is  the 
teacher  who  must  work  out  and  frame  the  curricu- 
lum to  suit  the  needs  of  his  particular  boys  and  girls ; 
and  it  is  the  influence  of  the  teacher  that  will  shape  and 
mold  the  habits  and  lives  of  his  pupils.  It  is  the 
teacher  of  energy,  of  spirit,  of  will,  of  moral  stamina  and 
intensity  of  purpose  who  will  impress  himself  upon  those 
under  his  care.  The  teacher  who  will  be  content  only 
with  the  best  is  the  teacher  we  want.  The  story  is  told 
of  the  bugler  who  played  the  advance  that  sent  the  men 
into  battle.  But  the  commanding  officer,  feeling  hedged 
about  and  doubtful  of  success,  ordered  that  a  retreat  be 
played.  "  Captain,"  replied  the  bugler,  "  I  never  learned 
to  play  a  retreat."  We  want  no  retreats,  we  want  only 
advances.  There  is  an  ever  increasing  place  for  the 
teacher  of  purpose  and  of  power ;  there  should  be  no 
place  for  the  one.  of  doubt  and  dishonesty. 

How  then  shall  the  proper  adjustment  of  the  elemen- 
tary school  curriculum  be  brought  about  ?  The  answer 
may  be  given  readily ;  but  the  actual  work  of  adjustment 
is  difficult  to  carry  on,  mainly,  because,  as  before  stated, 
the  standard  of  the  school  has  sprung  from  the  belief 
that  knowledge  is  power.  Not  until  men  are  sufficiently 
broad-minded  to  realize  that  the  life  of  the  present,  so 
different  from  that  of  their  own  early  days,  so  much 
more  intricate  and  complex  than  was  that  of  our  fathers, 
demands  a  new  interpretation ;  not  until  they  see  clearly 
that  "  new  times  demand  new  measures  and  new  men," 
and  are  able  to  apply  the  life  standards  to  the  processes 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  6l 

of  the  six-hour  school  day ;  not  until  they  can  give  rea- 
son based  upon  common  sense  for  such  practices,  shall 
we  be  able  to  see  how  the  curriculum  is  to  be  adjusted 
and  shall  we  be  active  in  accomplishing  this  adjustment. 

"The  works  of  God  are  all  for  naught, 

Unless  our  eyes  in  seeing, 
See  underneath  the  thing,  the  thought 
That  animates  its  being." 

We  shall  see  to  it  then,  in  shaping  our  curriculum, 
that  abstract  principle  be  thrown  into  the  background, 
and  that  live,  vital  issues,  those  more  in  accord  with  the 
Zeit  Geist — the  spirit  of  the  age,  be  in  evidence.  Con- 
tent must  be  substituted  for  form,  and  the  real  must  take 
the  place  of  the  symbol,  the  thing  done  rather  than  the 
thing  said,  must  stand ;  the  deed,  the  act,  the  accom- 
plishment, not  mere  feeling  or  emotion,  must  hold  sway. 
No  longer  can  the  school  be  considered  as  a  thing  of  and 
by  itself.  It  must  rise  or  fall  as  a  part  of  the  great  so- 
cial life  of  the  child's  existence.  In  the  institutional  life 
of  the  day,  the  school  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  instru- 
ments through  which  expression  manifests  itself.  It  is  a 
link  in  the  chain  made  by  the  home,  the  school,  the 
church,  the  state,  the  outside  world.  The  school  can  no 
longer  be  regarded  as  a  separate  element,  an  existence, 
per  se,  where  the  child  is  to  receive  instruction  that  he 
may  later  live.  He  must  live  at  school  as  he  should  live 
at  home,  or  on  the  street,  or  in  the  shop,  or  at  the  forge. 
He  must  step  from  the  school  into  the  work  of  life, 
whereas  now,  preparation  for  his  life's  work  must  be 


62  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

made  after  leaving  the  superficial  atmosphere  of  the 
school. 

I  have  tried  to  show  the  necessity  of  shaping  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  elementary  school  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  progressive  spirit  of  our  day,  and  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  indicate  certain  points  at  which  adjustment 
should  be  made  and  to  suggest  how  the  changes  may  be 
brought  about ;  for  the  curriculum  must  be  developed 
from  within,  not  built  up  from  without ;  it  must  be  fitted 
to  the  child,  not  the  child  fitted  to  it. 

I  would  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  every  ele- 
ment in  our  present  day  courses  should  be  stricken  out. 
Indeed,  I  have  attempted  to  show  that  many  times  the 
older,  more  conservative  thought,  stands  superior  to  a 
modern  whim  or  tendency.  We  shall  find  the  truth  of 
Disraeli's  saying  that  "  It  is  easier  to  criticise  than  to 
correct."  And  we  must  remember  that  "the  letter 
killeth,  the  spirit  giveth  life." 

Three  points,  it  seems  to  me,  have  been  determined, 
looking  toward  the  betterment  of  the  elementary  school 
curriculum.  First,  the  arrangement  of  the  courses  of 
study  must  be  such  as  to  fit  the  needs  and  conditions  of 
the  individual  student :  in  other  words,  the  work  given 
shall  have  some  reference  to  the  pupil's  capacity  and  to 
his  life  after  leaving  school.  Second,  there  must  be  a 
rational  coming  together  of  home,  school  and  outside 
world,  so  that  the  child  may  see  the  necessity  for  and  ap- 
preciate the  underlying  principles  animating  the  whole. 
Third,  teachers  must  come  to  their  work  not  only  pre- 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  63 

pared  as  to  subject-matter,  but  possessing  enthusiasm, 
sympathy,  high  ideals,  and  the  ability  to  obtain  the  co- 
operation of  parents  and  patrons. 

Finally,  is  it  not  easy  to  see  that  we  have  been  making, 
through  our  primary  school  curricula,  a  different  sort  of 
life  in  the  schoolroom  from  that  actually  existing  outside 
of  it ;  a  life  not  at  all  real  and  certainly  not  ideal  ?  The 
lack  of  interest  has  been  mainly  on  account  of  this.  So 
different  is  the  atmosphere  of  the  school  from  that  of 
real  life  that  the  pupil  does  not  recognize  the  school  ele- 
ments as  having  vital  bearing  or  application  outside  the 
school.  In  the  school  he  works  for  show,  for  standing, 
and  while  ready  with  the  facts,  loses  or  never  finds  their 
true  meaning  or  application. 

With  a  program  that  shall  fit  the  child's  needs  will 
come  an  increased  desire  to  continue  in  school,  a  live  in- 
terest in  its  many  problems,  an  increased  student  attitude. 
Then,  too,  will  the  child  see  more  clearly  his  relations  to 
his  fellows,  his  individual  duties  and  responsibilities,  and 
while  recognizing  his  own  worth,  will  at  the  same  time 
appreciate  the  meaning  and  significance  of  the  commu- 
nity, the  society,  the  social  whole  of  which  he  is  only  one 
of  the  units. 

THESES 

1.  An  unrest  in  educational  matters  is  apparent,  which, 
beginning  in  the  secondary  school,  now  shows  clearly  in 
the  school  of  elementary  grade. 

2.  There  is  general  agreement  upon  underlying  educa- 


64  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

tional  principles,  but  little    unity  in  application  of  the 
same. 

3.  The  school  is  planned  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  few ; 
school  courses  should  appeal  to  the  mass. 

4.  Since  past  and  present  standards  in  education  differ, 
and  since  the  school  must  be  in  harmony  with  the  real 
life  of  the  individual,  adjustment  in  school  courses  must 
be  made  all  along  the  line  and  in  all  subjects. 

5 .  In  too  great  a  degree  the  elementary  school  is  domi- 
nated by  the  institutions  of  secondary  grade. 

6.  Arithmetic,    Language,   Geography  and  Industrial 
Arts  are  used  as  illustrations  of  the  necessity  for  adjust- 
ment throughout  the  school. 

7.  As  so-called  thought  subjects  in  the  past  contained 
little  of  the  expressive  element,  so  the  present  work  in 
industrial  lines  touches  too  lightly  the  thought  side. 

8.  Constructive  work  built  upon  a  sane  foundation  is 
invaluable.     The  best  in  both  the  early  and  present  day 
education  is  necessary  to  a  proper  adjustment  of  the 
curriculum,  that  the  pupil  may  find  his  place  in  society. 

9.  The  personality  of  the  teacher  is,  in  the  last  analy- 
sis, the  main  factor  to  be  considered. 

TOPICS    FOR    STUDY 

1.  What  is  the  meaning  of  a  socialized  curriculum? 

2.  Is  further  unity  in  school  subjects  desirable?     Con- 
sider the  question  as  to  whether  we  can  have  unity  with- 
out uniformity. 

3.  The  elementary  school  as  a  social  center. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM  65 

4.  The  elementary  school  as  a  neighborhood  or  com- 
munity center. 

5.  What  part  should  imitation  play  in  the  work  of  the 
various  grades?     Originality?     Are  imitation  and  origi- 
nality antagonistic  elements,  or  is  one  the  foundation  of 
the  other? 

6.  Consider   fully   as    to   whether  the   school,  as  a 
community,  finds  its  standards  in  the  individual  or  in 
society.     Does  the  mass  or  the  reformer  mold  public 
opinion  ? 

7.  Are  school  hours  too  long  ?     Why  should  the  school 
year  not  extend  over  the  full  twelve  months? 

8.  Are  school  duties  too  absorbing? 

9.  The  average  recitation  time  in  the  elementary  school 
is  increasing.      Discuss  the  advantages  of  increasing  the 
time  of  recitation,  and  of  the  study  period. 

10.  Outside  preparation  for  elementary  pupils. 

1 1 .  To  what  extent  should  the  teacher  assume  care  of 
pupils  after  school  hours  or  at  such  times  as  the  school 
is  not  in  session  ? 

1 2.  Management  of  games  and  sports  by  the  teacher. 

13.  Show  to  what  extent  the  school  makes  for  and 
suppresses  leadership. 

14.  Consider  the  relation  of  the  pupil,  the  parent  and 
the  teacher  in  the  actual  making  of  the  course  of  study. 

15.  The  statement  is  made  frequently  that  the  envi- 
ronment   must    be    considered  when    constructing   the 
course  of  study.     Show  how  this  is  true,  and  discuss 
the  relation  of  environment  to  curriculum. 

Standards — 5 


66 


STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 


1 6.  Should  there  be  a  closer  union  between  the  ele- 
mentary and  the  secondary  school  ?     Study  the  problem 
of  a  closer  articulation  of  school  courses. 

1 7.  Make  a  list  of  all  topics  in  arithmetic  that  could 
well  be  dropped.     Do  the  same  for  each  of  the  other 
subjects.       What   could  be  done  in  the   time    that  is 
gained  by  such  elimination  ? 

1 8.  Show  whether  the   subject,  the  method,  or  the 
teacher,  is  the  matter  of  chief  importance.     What  part 
does  the  text-book  and  administration  play?     Is  your 
answer  the  same  in  all  cases  ? 

CONSULT 

BALDWIN  Industrial  Social  Education. 

BRYAN  The  Basis  of  Practical  Teaching. 

BUTLER  The  Meaning  of  Education. 

DEWEY  My  Educational  Creed. 

Psychology  and  Social  Practice,  Psychologi- 
cal Review,  vol.  7,  no.  2. 
Psychological  Aspects  of  the  School  Curricu- 
lum, Educational  Review,  April,  1897,  vol. 

13.  PP-  356~369- 
The  Child  and  the  Curriculum. 
The  School  and  Society. 
Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education. 
DOPP  The    Place    of    Industries    in    Elementary 

Education. 

BUTTON,  The  Curriculum  of  the  Elementary  School, 

PEARSON,  AND        in    Teachers    College    Record,    vol.     5, 
RICHARDS  no.  2. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  CURRICULUM 


67 


ELIOT  Educational   Reform,  chaps.   7,  8,   n;  see 

also  addresses  in  proceedings  of  Cincin- 
nati meeting  of  the  Department  of  Super- 
intendence, 1903. 

FROEBEL  Education  of  Man. 

GORDY  A  Broader  Elementary  Education. 

HALL  Experiments  upon  Children,  in  Good  House- 

keeping, Oct.,  1903. 

HANUS  Attempted  Improvements  in  the  Course  of 

Study,  in  Educational  Review,  Dec.,  1896, 
vol.  12,  pp.  435-452- 

HARRIS  Psychological  Foundations  of  Education. 

The  Correlation  of  Studies,  Report  of  Com- 
mittee of  Fifteen  on  Elementary  Educa- 
tion. 

HENDERSON        A  New  Program  in  Education. 
Education  and  the  Larger  Life. 

McMuRRY,  C.     Elements  of  General  Method. 

McMuRRY  The   Curriculum  of   the   Speyer  School,  in 

AND  BURKS  Teachers  College  Record,  vol.  4,  no.  i. 

O'SHEA  Education  as  Adjustment. 

PARKER  Talks  on  Pedagogics. 

PAYNE  Public  Elementary  School  Curricula. 

SADLER  The  Unrest  in  Secondary  Education. 

SPENCER  Education. 

WILSON  Pedagogues  and  Parents. 


CHAPTER  III 
INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING:  ITS  AIM  AND  SCOPE 

IT  is  because  that  branch  of  school  knowledge  usually 
spoken  of  as  industrial  training  is  being  so  generally  in- 
troduced into  our  courses  of  study  and  because  so  few 
parents  or  teachers,  aside  from  the  specialist,  claim  ade- 
quate acquaintance  with  its  deeper  educational  value, 
that  the  subject  is  here  considered.  From  their  compara- 
tively new  position  as  special  subjects,  given  in  a  few 
localities  only,  manual  training,  domestic  science  and 
other  industrial  processes  are  becoming  so  general  through- 
out certain  districts  that  patrons  and  educational  folk 
the  country  over  are  discussing  their  many  phases;  and  the 
regular  grade  teacher  is  being  forced  to  the  consideration 
of  problems  of  method,  of  material,  and  of  forms  of  work. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  asked  by  one  of  our  leading  school 
men  why  I  advocated  the  introduction  of  manual  train- 
ing into  the  curriculum.  Said  he,  "I  have  repeatedly 
asked  teachers  of  manual  training  this  question  and  have 
received  no  satisfactory  reply  to  my  query.  They  suggest 
always  some  impossible  result  to  be  accomplished  or 
some  vague  form  of  development  to  be  reached.  What 
then,"  he  insisted,  ''is  the  educational  value  of  the  sub- 
ject?" My  reply  was  that  should  he  give  me  his  reasons 

68 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  69 

for  advocating  history  and  science  as  school  subjects,  I 
would  probably  in  like  terms  return  him  the  answer  he 
desired.  Laying  aside  the  consideration  of  relative  values, 
the  same  principles  underlie  the  one  that  are  at  the  base 
of  the  other.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  many  are  now  willing 
to  accept  this  view  of  the  matter. 

To  speak  of  the  development,  during  the  past  three 
decades,  of  any  school  subject,  is  obviously  a  task  of  no 
mean  proportions.  Even  the  traditional  studies  of  the 
curriculum,  reading,  grammar,  history,  mathematics,  have 
undergone  radical  change  and  modification,  though  in 
their  foundations  they  have  been  more  or  less  fixed  for  a 
considerable  length  of  time.  Using  geography  as  a  type 
of  this  change,  we  find  the  content  and  method,  hi  many 
quarters  at  least,  almost  totally  different  from  that  of  a 
few  years  past.  While  hand  work  is  a  comparatively  new 
subject  and  need  not  be  considered  as  existing,  for  school 
purposes  at  least,  prior  to  thirty  years  ago,  the  more 
modern  and  generally  accepted  practices  in  this  field  have 
little  in  common  with  those  of  the  earlier  date,  or  of 
twenty  or  of  even  a  half  score  years  past.  To  what  are 
these  changes  due  and  what  is  their  significance  in  the 
educational  life  of  the  day  ? 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  consider  at  length  the  history 

of  the  manual  training  movement,  or  to  trace 

totheintro-     'm  detail   its   growth   to   the   present   time. 

auction  of         This  has  been  done  again  and  again,  and 

Hand  Work 

has,  perhaps,  been  necessary  to  make  clear 
the   educational  demands  for  hand  work.      Discussions 


70  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

have  been  brought  forward  and  arguments  made  upon 
the  principles  underlying  the  manual  occupations;  the 
psychological  point  of  view  has  been  exploited;  the  growth 
of  brain  areas  and  brain  tracts  resulting  from  action  of 
motor  centers  has  been  dwelt  upon;  the  threefold  de- 
velopment of  the  individual,  that  of  the  mental,  moral 
and  physical  natures  has  been  declared  impossible  with- 
out the  aid  of  manual  training;  education  of  a  so-called 
all  around  character,  of  head,  hand  and  heart,  has  had 
able  advocates.  But  while  these  ideas  have  been  put 
forward  in  perfectly  good  faith  and  while  certain  of  the 
principles  involved  are  considered  sound  at  the  present 
day,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  delightful  theory  and  vain 
imaginings  have  prompted  many  of  them  and  upon  these 
have  been  constructed  courses  of  study  that  cannot  last 
or  that  have  entirely  passed  away. 

Manual  training,  hand  work,  motor  activity,  construct- 
ive work,  industrial  education :  these  arc  some 
The  Name        of  the  terms  suggested  to  indicate  the  work 

and  the 

Purpose  proposed  to  satisfy  the  creative  tendency  in 

the  individual.  The  term  manual  training 
is  the  one  most  commonly  in  use,  but  it  is  now  being  ar- 
gued by  many  that  it  does  not  convey  fully,  nor  correctly, 
the  idea  or  significance  of  the  processes  in  question. 
Manual  training  implies  training  of  a  manual  nature 
only;  and  at  the  present  time,  this  is  but  one  of  the  ob- 
jects to  be  sought  through  industrial  processes.  Hence, 
the  suggestion  of  the  term,  manual  or  industrial  arts. 
Of  the  various  reasons  advanced  for  the  introduction 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  71 

of  hand  work  into  the  curriculum,  the  following  may  be 
taken  as  being  of  chief  importance.  It  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  any  individual  advocate  would  advance  all 
of  the  several  reasons  here  given,  because  the  particular 
exponent  generally  has  in  mind  a  specific  purpose  which 
he  hopes  to  see  realized  through  the  introduction  of  the 
hand  work  processes. 

First.  Manual  training,  properly  directed  and  carried 
on,  will  create  in  the  mind  of  the  individual  a  love  for 
work,  and  an  appreciation  of  the  dignity  of  honest  labor, 
such  as  can  be  had  in  no  other  way. 

Second.  The  natural  activity  of  the  pupil, — an  activity 
that  is  native  and  that  must  find  expression,  is  given  freer 
play  in  the  hand  work  processes  than  elsewhere  in  school. 

Third.  The  industrial  side  of  our  work-a-day  existence, 
calling  to  us  as  it  does  from  every  hand,  gams  an  added 
clearness  in  the  minds  of  those  boys  and  girls  who  engage 
in  manual  work  in  school. 

Fourth.  The  immature  mind  of  the  pupil  demands  rest 
and  recreation  from  the  continuous  application  to  book 
studies.  The  introduction  of  hand  work  relieves  the  ten- 
sion and  returns  the  pupil  to  his  other  tasks,  quickened 
and  refreshed  in  body  and  mind. 

Fifth.  The  physical  development  of  the  pupil  is  pro- 
moted by  doing  such  work  as  calls  for  bodily  strength 
and  action.  He  stands  rather  than  sits  and  is  enabled  to 
assume  healthful  positions. 

Sixth.  The  subject  being  rather  concrete  than  other- 
wise, and  something  in  which  deception  cannot  readily 


72  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

find  a  place,  the  moral  standards  of  the  pupil  are  raised. 
Any  defect  is  readily  observed  by  both  pupil  and  teacher, 
the  transparency  of  the  work  making  it  comparatively 
difficult  for  sham  to  be  substituted  for  honest  endeavor. 

Seventh.  Those  who  pursue  work  of  a  constructive  na- 
ture are  likely  to  possess  a  general  dexterity  or  handi- 
ness,  a  deftness  of  hand  in  execution.  The  dexterity  or 
ability  to  use  one's  hands,  to  handle  materials  and  master 
tools  is  to  be  considered  from  the  educative  side  only. 
In  this  connection  it  is  not  thought  of  as  reaching  over 
into  the  field  of  bread-winning. 

Eighth.  Work  in  the  manual  training  room,  of  what- 
ever nature  it  may  be  or  whatever  form  it  may  assume, 
will  lay  the  foundation  of  a  trade  that  may  finally  be 
carried  to  a  more  complete  development. 

Ninth.  Since  the  concrete  and  the  objective  appeal  to 
the  untrained  mind,  as  the  abstract,  abstruse  conception 
cannot,  the  books  or  traditional  subjects  are  made  clear 
where  reinforced  by  the  more  tangible  productions  of  the 
manual  training  room. 

Let  us  examine  each  of  these  several  propositions  in 
turn  and  endeavor  to  discover  the  strength  in  each. 

The  necessity  for  a  tolerant  spirit  on  the  part  of  those 

who  do  not  engage  in  physical  labor  toward 

Labor*701        those  whose  support  comes  through  toil  and 

struggle,  is  increasingly  evident.     In  these 

days  of  strife  between  capital  and  labor,  of  combination 

of  money  and  union  of  men,  of  industrial  competition  and 

narrow  margins,  the  dignity  of  hand  labor  should  be  ap- 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  73 

predated  by  every  thinking  man  and  woman.  According 
to  the  last  census  of  the  United  States,  the  number  of  those 
following  some  gainful  occupation  was  something  over 
twenty-nine  millions,  of  which  in  round  numbers,  thirty- 
five  per  cent  were  engaged  in  agriculture,  twenty-four  per 
cent  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing  lines,  nineteen  per 
cent  hi  domestic  and  personal  service,  sixteen  per  cent  in 
trade  and  transportation,  and  four  per  cent  in  professional 
pursuits.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  much  of  the  work  ac- 
complished is  carried  on  through  the  physical  energies 
of  our  people. 

Those  who  have  examined  this  question  most  closely, 
affirm  that  in  schools  where  manual  training  work  is 
carried  on,  the  sons  of  the  wealthy  and  the  sons  of  the 
poor  stand  side  by  side  at  the  bench  or  the  forge.  The 
dust  of  labor  covers  each  alike.  The  same  problems  con- 
front one  as  do  the  other;  and  each  in  turn  has  these  prob- 
lems to  work  out  and  solve.  They  sympathize,  one  with 
the  other,  in  disappointments  and  failures;  and  each  re- 
joices with  his  fellow  when  success  attends  him.  They 
touch  elbows,  and  there  grows  up  between  them  a  kin- 
ship that  poverty  upon  the  one  hand  and  wealth  upon  the 
other  cannot  dispel.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  that,  more 
and  more,  these  conditions  are  being  realized,  and  that 
people  from  all  walks  of  life  are  being  advantaged  thereby. 

All  present  day  education  insists  upon  the  necessity  for 
activity  on  the  part  of  the  child.  The  philosophy  of  Plato, 
the  theories  of  Pestaloazi,  and  the  utterances  of  Froebel 
cried  out  for  something  in  school  work  that  should 


74  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

keep  the  child  free  and  active  and  allow  him  to  expand 
and  grow  in  a  normal  manner.  The  ne- 
cessity  for  activity  in  development  has,  in- 


Activity  deed,  been  appreciated  and  understood  since 

early  times.  The  developing  mind  is  an  active 
mind.  The  immature  body  is  a  growing  body.  Building, 
making,  creating,  destroying,  —  these  are  inherent  traits  in 
the  child  and  are  recognized  by  the  exponents  of  any  ra- 
tional educational  plan.  Says  Colonel  Francis  W.  Parker, 
when  speaking  of  manual  training  as  being  one  of  the 
many  modes  of  expression:  "Making,  or  manual  training, 
has  done  more  for  the  human  race  than  the  exercise  of  any 
if  not  all,  of  the  other  modes  of  expression.  It  is  abso- 
lutely indispensable  to  normal,  physical  development;  it 
has  had  a  mighty  influence  upon  brain  building."  * 

In  doors  and  out,  at  school  or  at  home,  the  normal 
child  expresses  himself  in  terms  of  movement,  of  activity. 
The  industrial  arts  will  bring  to  the  child  through  the 
various  media,  opportunity  for  such  activity. 

The  complexity  and  the  deep  significance  of  the  in- 

dustrial processes  to  every  member  of  so- 
industrial  •  ,  .  .  ,.  .  . 

Demands          cietv  are  considerations  worthy  our  attention. 

The  industrial  spirit  of  the  day  continually 
demands  translation  and  interpretation  at  the  hands  of 
the  child.  The  "what  is  it?"  and  "why?"  form  of  ques- 
tion is  ever  being  put.  Contact  with  the  materials  of 
the  manual  training  room,  a  study  of  the  raw  products, 
and  participation  in  the  various  processes  will  assist 

*  Talks  on  Pedagogics,  p.  253. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  75 

toward  a  more  complete  understanding  of  our  industrial 
life. 

"An  education  which  cultivates  the  industrial  spirit  is 
the  best  education  the  school  can  give;  it  is  the  only  all 
round  education;  it  is  the  only  human  education;  it  is  the 
only  education  based  on  the  self  activity  of  the  pupil  and 
is  therefore  the  only  education  which  will  satisfy  the  de- 
mands of  our  day  and  generation;  potent  beyond  any- 
thing we  have  yet  tried,  it  diminishes  pauperism  and 
crime,  which  are  increasing  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
growth  of  population,  in  spite  of  our  present  methods  of 
training."  * 

It  is  then,  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  contact 
with  the  actual  materials  of  the  shop  and  the  laboratory, 
the  kitchen  and  the  garden,  will  awaken  the  individual 
to  a  consciousness  of  the  value  and  significance  of  the 
many  industrial  phases  that  touch  him  on  every  side  and 
help  to  shape  his  very  existence. 

No  parent  or  teacher,  no  one  who  has  studied  child 
nature,  but  knows  how  impossible  it  is  for 
TheNeces-  the  mind  to  hold  itself  to  any  set  task  for 
change  more  than  a  short  time.  To  realize  this 

difficulty,  let  the  adult,  the  reader,  indeed, 
endeavor  to  hold  himself  to  the  consideration  of  a  given 
topic  to  the  exclusion  of  all  else.  Only  as  the  mind  is 
concentrated  upon  the  subject  in  hand,  only  as  the  at- 
tention is  directed  toward  the  desired  end  is  the  particular 

*  W.  S.  Mack,  26th  Annual  Report,  Moline,  111.,  Public  Schools,  1899, 
P-33- 


76  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

lesson  or  task  truly  considered.  After  a  short  period  of 
such  attention,  the  mind  will  wander  and  adjust  itself  to 
other  things,  returning,  perhaps,  to  take  up  again  the 
desired  problem.  This  means  that  as  much  may  be  ac- 
complished in  a  short  period  with  concentrated  effort,  as 
by  endeavoring  to  hold  the  mind  for  prolonged  reaches 
of  time,  only  to  find  the  attention  wandering  and  desultory 
and  the  ideas  vague.  Change,  with  the  mind  as  with  the 
body,  is  rest;  and  if  the  pupil,  when  wearied,  can  take 
up  some  manual  occupation  he  will  return  later  to  his 
books,  fresh  and  ready  to  engage  again  in  the  more  purely 
mental  processes. 

Says  Dr.  Albert  Shaw:  "Seek  in  every  subject  of  study, 
especially  in  the  lower  grades,  to  provide  motor  activity, 
at  least  as  an  accompaniment  of  study  and  recitation.  If 
possible,  however,  invent  means  which  shall  use  up  the 
motor  tendencies  and  at  the  same  time  make  a  contribut- 
ing part  of  the  more  purely  thought  work  required  of  the 
child.  In  short,  let  some  doing  accompany  all  the  child's 
efforts  to  learn." 

In  schools  where  such  forms  of  work  are  provided, 
that  the  pupil  may  readily  change  from  the  one  to  the 
other,  much  improvement  has  been  found.  The  pupil 
looks  forward  to  his  manual  work  with  pleasure,  and 
attacks  with  vigor  and  energy  the  problems  of  his  daily 
recitations. 

There  can  be  no  question  of  the  desirability  of  the 
strong  body.  The  time  has  long  since  passed  when  to  be 
a  student  means  to  be  an  invalid  and  a  weakling.  The 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  77 

pale  student  of  the  monastery  with  his  book  for  com- 
panion is  no  longer  the  symbol  for  educa- 
tion.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  duty  of  the  school 
to  make  for  physical  and  bodily  growth,  fully 
as  much  as  it  is  to  minister  to  the  mental  side  of  the  pupil's 
nature.  Many  schoolrooms  are  admirably  suited  to  pre- 
vent physical  growth.  In  a  close  fitting  seat,  leaning  over 
upon  a  desk  several  sizes  too  small,  or  reaching  up  to  one 
as  much  too  large,  with  shoulders  stooped  and  chest  com- 
pressed, many  a  boy  and  girl  is,  through  the  long  hours 
of  the  day,  assuming  harmful  and  dangerous  bodily 
positions.  Instead  of  being  free  and  unhampered,  pupils 
are  many  times  cramped  and  warped. 

Muscular  action  and  exercise  of  the  larger  organs  of 
movement  are  provided  for  in  any  rational  form  of  the 
industrial  arts.  If  the  child  sits,  he  may  usually  be  in  a 
healthful  position;  if  he  stands  or  walks  about,  his  move- 
ments are  free.  He  works  with  materials  that  offer  re- 
sistance to  his  efforts  and  with  tools  that  demand  strength 
in  their  mastery.  The  effects  of  certain  necessary  harmful 
bodily  attitudes  are  counteracted  and  undeveloped  muscles 
are  strengthened. 

The  more  concrete  the  work  in  hand,  the  less  likely  is 

doubt  and  uncertainty  to  play  a  part.     In 

mld^Difa        grammar   or   history,    a   mistake    upon   the 

cuit  pupil's  part  may  easily  pass  unchallenged. 

The  student  glides  over  an  error  consciously 

or  without  intent;  and  even  the  teacher  may  not  detect 

the  fault.    In  a  word,  both  teacher  and  pupil  may  be  de- 


78  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

ceived.  In  the  shop  or  in  the  cooking  room  it  is  quite 
different.  Be  the  box  too  long  or  too  short,  the  metal  too 
thick  or  too  thin,  the  joint  too  loose,  the  basket  askew, 
the  stitches  uneven,  or  the  ingredients  improper  in  pro- 
portion, little  doubt  need  enter  the  pupil's  mind  as  to 
the  Tightness  of  his  work.  He  can  see  and  have  pointed 
out  to  him  the  fault  or  defect,  and  can  himself  usually 
tell  when  the  same  is  remedied. 

How  often  do  we  find  the  pupil  in  his  book  lesson,  be- 
lieving thoroughly  that  he  understands  the  subject,  when 
later  it  becomes  apparent  that  he  does  not!  Simply  re- 
peating something,  memorizing  a  statement,  or  working 
through  an  abstract  problem,  does  not  prove  that  there  is 
an  understanding  of  the  same. 

There  has  been  no  lack  of  manual  training  advocates, 
especially  among  the  parents  themselves,  to 
Dexterity  Pu^  forward  the  claims  for  a  general  dex- 
terity of  hand.  Work  of  a  constructive  na- 
ture, when  taken  up  by  the  boy  in  school,  will,  they  affirm, 
render  him  handy  at  making  and  repairing  things,  and 
these  people  will  tell  you  that  this  is  the  chief  benefit  to 
be  derived  from  a  study  of  the  manual  arts.  Certain  it  is 
that  many  friends  of  manual  training  consider  the  ability 
to  use  a  knowledge  gained,  toward  useful  and  purposeful 
ends,  a  desideratum.  As  a  rule,  however,  they  do  not 
think  in  terms  of  its  industrial,  or  economic,  or  commercial 
value,  but  rather  in  terms  of  its  so-called  educational 
worth.  In  other  words,  while  desiring  that  industrial 
work  be  directed  in  useful  channels,  they  look  upon  it  in 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  79 

the  light  of  an  added  tool  that  will  assist  in  further  de- 
velopment, rather  than  as  a  factor  bringing  immediate 
results. 

A  sharp  line  is  drawn  by  most  advocates  between  the 
teaching  of  the  industrial  arts  for  the  pur- 
P°se  °f  learning  a  trade  upon  the  one  hand, 
and  for  what  is  spoken  of  as  the  purely  forma- 
tive side,  upon  the  other;  there  have  all  along  been  those 
who  have  ably  put  forward  the  idea  that  hand  work  in 
schools  should  not  only  aim  at,  but  should  prepare  di- 
rectly for,  some  one  of  the  many  trades  in  which  the  pupil 
might  engage.  Many  persons,  a  majority  no  doubt,  do 
not  discriminate  between  manual  training  for  general 
purposes  and  the  work  carried  on  in  the  regular  trade 
school;  and  since  the  elements  of  so  many  trades  are  of 
necessity  found  to  exist  in  the  work  done  in  the  various 
school  shops,  the  chief  value  attaching  to  hand  work  is 
conceived  to  be  in  furnishing  the  foundations  for  some  one 
or  more  of  these  several  trades. 

That  the  province  of  the  real  trade  school  is  distinct 
from  the  field  of  the  manual  arts  in  the  regular  school, 
and  that  the  two  must  not  be  confused,  need  not  be  con- 
sidered at  length  here.  Since,  however,  to  earn  one's 
livelihood  is  quite  legitimate,  rather  than  degrading,  and 
since  the  making  of  things  without  the  application  of 
knowledge  gained  is  no  longer  thought  of  as  being  edu- 
cational, the  trade  and  educational  phases  are,  in  the 
last  analysis,  not  in  conflict.  True  it  is  that  the  boy  or  the 
girl,  having  intelligently  pursued  work  in  manual  train- 


8o  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

ing,  is  enabled  to  take  up  and  carry  forward  not  only  the 
plans  worked  out  by  others,  but  is  capable  of  originating 
problems.  His  ability  in  self-expression  and  his  power 
of  individual  initiative  is  quickened. 

The  writer  was  told  recently  by  the  manager  of  a  large 
furniture  factory,  that  the  most  difficult  undertaking  con- 
nected with  his  business  was  the  securing  of  efficient  men 
to  plan  and  direct  new  enterprises;  that  more  than  else- 
where, in  the  graduates  of  the  manual  training  high  school, 
were  they  finding  the  men  they  desired.  I  could  give  so 
many  instances  in  line  with  the  above  that  individual  cases 
would  lose  their  worth. 

Objective  teaching  in  the  school  has  long  been  looked 
upon  as  being  of  extreme  value.  In  the  man- 
ua^  training  the  pupil  approaches  more  nearly 


clarifies  the  tangible  product  than  elsewhere  in  school 

Mental  .  . 

concepts  work.  When  the  industrial  processes  are 
used,  not  so  much  as  an  end  in  themselves, 
nor  merely  from  the  standpoint  of  a  school  subject,  but 
as  a  medium  of  expression,  the  other  subjects  are  illumi- 
nated. The  shadows  are  thrown  into  relief,  so  to  speak. 
It  is  claimed  that  the  problem  in  mathematics  or  the  ex- 
periment in  science,  which  heretofore  has  proved  only  so 
many  words  to  the  pupil,  is  readily  understood  when  the 
model  or  bit  of  apparatus  made  by  the  student,  is  used 
for  illustration. 

When  carried  to  its  final  analysis,  this  point  brings  one 
to  the  idea  of  the  correlation  of  manual  processes  with 
other  school  work.  Some  declare  that  when  thus  con- 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  Si 

sidered,  manual  training  will  be  the  "handmaid"  of  the 
other  subjects  and  will  thus  become  degraded.  Those 
who  hold  this  view  are,  of  course,  making  the  subject, 
rather  than  the  child,  the  object  of  chief  concern.  Any 
rational  unifying  of  subjects  can  result  only  in  benefit  to 
all. 

With  this  brief  consideration  of  the  more  important 
claims  made  for  the  introduction  of  hand  work  into  the 
school,  we  may  now  turn  to  a  somewhat  general  discus- 
sion of  the  field  of  the  industrial  arts. 

The  so-called  exercise  system  of  manual  training  is 
that  first  put  into  actual  practice  in  Russia 
an<^  *s  sP°ken  of  usually  as  the  Russian 
system.  It  is  very  probably  true  that  work 
of  the  nature  indicated  was  actually  begun  in  France. 
The  exercise  system,  worked  out  largely  hi  the  secondary 
and  technical  schools,  and  at  a  date  earlier  than  the  in- 
troduction of  hand  work  into  the  grades,  comprised  as  the 
term  implies,  a  series  of  abstract  exercises.  Using  wood 
as  the  material  to  illustrate  the  thought,  certain  typical 
tool  processes  would  be  considered,  such  as  cross  or  rip- 
sawing,  chiseling,  the  construction  of  various  joints,  and 
so  on.  In  sewing,  to  illustrate  further,  various  stitches 
were  practised  upon  a  bit  of  fabric  prepared  for  such 
work;  buttonholes  were  made  and  buttons  fastened, 
sample  pieces  of  cloth  being  used.  Later  on  in  the  course, 
indeed,  these  abstract  exercises  frequently  found  ex- 
pression in  a  completed  article. 

These  exercises,  whether  in  wood,  Iron,  cloth  or  other 

Standards — 6 


82  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

material,  were  based  upon  supposed  difficulty  in  tool 
manipulation,  the  simple  movements  being  followed  in 
regular  order  by  the  more  difficult.  Under  this  system,  as 
a  general  rule,  and  in  most  places,  the  exercises  or  articles 
made  became  the  property  of  the  school,  to  be  disposed 
of  as  desired. 

Teaching  was  carried  on  in  the  mass,  little  use  being 
made  of  the  individual  form  of  instruction.  The  ex- 
ercises, too,  were  given  in  direct  order  and  in  some  in- 
stances, as  pertains  in  certain  Danish  schools  to-day,  the 
class  worked  as  a  unit,  until  someone  dropped  behind  or 
forged  ahead  of  his  fellows,  when  the  class  would  pause 
that  all  might  again  start  at  a  given  signal  and  proceed 
in  harmony  as  before. 

The  exercise  system,  under  which  the  abstract  task  was 
performed,  was  the  forerunner  of  the  model 
system*6  system,  which  comprehended  the  making  of 
complete  objects.  This  in  itself  was  a  long 
step  forward,  the  models  being  thought  of  as  articles  of 
use.  What  is  known  as  the  Swedish  Sloyd  or  Slojd  em- 
phasizes more  clearly  than  anything  else  this  model 
scheme  of  hand  work.  Again  taking  wood  as  the  illus- 
trative material,  although  at  first  paper,  rushes,  iron  and 
other  materials  were  used,  a  number  of  objects  were  pre- 
sented, carefully  arranged  and  graded  as  to  difficulty  of 
construction,  considered  chiefly  with  reference  to  tool 
manipulation.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  determine 
what  tool,  or  what  particular  exercise  with  a  given  tool, 
presented  the  least  difficulty.  As  before  stated,  this  same 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  83 

principle  was  applied  to  other  forms  of  hand  work;  sew- 
ing, for  example,  to  use  the  illustration  before  given. 
In  this  manner  the  pupil  was  carried  along  by  regular 
steps,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  from  the  known  to 
the  unknown,  from  the  concrete  to  the  abstract. 

Here,  as  under  the  exercise  system,  the  sequence  was 
arranged  mainly  upon  the  basis  of  difficulty  in  tool  ma- 
nipulation, without  consideration  of  necessity  or  choice,  or 
varying  ability  in  the  pupils.  The  models  were  made  in 
both  rectilinear  and  curvilinear  form  to  be  tested  not 
only  with  measuring  tools,  but  also  with  the  eye  and  sense 
of  touch.  They  became  the  property  of  the  student  by 
whom  they  were  constructed. 

While  those  advocating  such  a  scheme  as  is  here  men- 
tioned, realized  that  the  abstract  would  not 

what  is  satisfy,   they   failed   many   times  to   under- 

Demanded  J '  J 

stand  that  the  model  could  be  nearly  or  quite 

as  far  removed  from  the  concrete  as  the  exercise  itself. 
Here  again,  as  under  the  exercise  system,  the  thing  is 
made  because  it  is  the  next  object  in  the  series  or  course, 
and  not  necessarily  because  any  particular  need  or  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  child  calls  for  the  making  of  such  an 
object.  No  demand  may  arise  from  the  pupil  himself 
for  a  flower  stick  or  a  keyboard,  a  hammock  or  an  apron. 
He  makes  the  board  or  stick,  in  some  instances  putting 
it  to  use  or  perhaps  giving  it  away;  frequently  it  is  left  at 
school,  or  if  carried  home  it  is  stored  in  the  attic  or  laid 
aside  in  the  bureau  drawer  to  be  exhibited  to  visitors. 
We  cannot  write  the  history  of  the  past  by  writing 


84  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

simply  the  history  of  the  savage  in  the  jungle.  We  can 
write  the  history  of  the  past  only  by  coming  from  the  past 
into  the  present,  by  tracing  the  development  of  past  acts 
into  present  achievement  and  present  needs.  So,  too, 
with  education.  It  is  not  enough  to  stop  with  the  past, 
to  trace  certain  culture  epochs,  and  to  do  primitive  things 
in  a  primitive  fashion.  The  school  life  and  the  later  life 
of  the  pupil  as  well,  must  be  consulted  and  the  work  laid 
in  accordance  with  life's  demands,  consistent,  of  course, 
with  the  best  development  of  the  child. 
Tradition  and  habit  are  stubborn  enemies  if  misdi- 
rected. Says  the  author  of  a  recent  bit  of 
Misdirected  fiction:  "It  is  wonderful  what  a  fund  of  use- 
less information  some  people  assimilate  and 
cling  to  with  persistent  determination  worthy  of  a  better 
cause."  This  might  well  furnish  the  text  for  what  I 
shall  say  regarding  the  industrial  phases  of  the  subject. 
It  is  not  an  extravagant  statement  to  make,  that  many 
of  the  principles  supposed  to  be  at  the  foundation  of  our 
manual  courses,  principles  borrowed  in  a  sense  from 
the  Swedes,  the  Russians,  or  the  French,  have  never  been 
considered  by  them  as  being  principles  at  all.  Or  to 
put  it  another  way,  while  with  Europeans,  from  whom 
certain  of  our  ideas  in  manual  training  were  originally  bor- 
rowed, the  application  of  the  principles  has  been  chang- 
ing, we  have  kept  too  closely  to  traditional  lines.  More- 
over, many  of  the  ideas  put  forward  by  these  people  in 
years  past,  as  fundamental,  have  been  discarded  for 
more  rational  ones,  while  we  who  copy  from  our  neigh- 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  85 

bors  have  not  informed  ourselves  of  their  advance  and 
still  continue  to  worship  the  old. 

As  an  example  of  this,  take  the  course  of  study  idea  as 
exemplified  in  the  sloyd,  of  which  we  have  been  speaking. 
Sloyd  has  in  many  places  fallen  into  disrepute.  To  make 
plant  labels  and  flower  sticks  and  hammer  handles  is  not, 
say  some,  necessarily  educational  or  industrial.  It  is, 
to  be  sure,  manual,  and  tradition  forces  many  to  adhere 
to  the  practices  of  course  work.  Many  of  those  who  sup- 
pose they  are  following  the  principles  as  laid  down  by 
Dr.  Salomon  himself,  the  original  exponent  of  the  sloyd 
system,  are  as  far  from  the  reality  as  they  could  well  be; 
and  many  others,  perhaps  the  larger  number  of  manual 
training  teachers  in  our  own  country  to-day, — are  una- 
ware that  Salomon  did  not,  in  his  later  years  for  his  own 
country  even,  advocate  the  same  principles  and  methods 
to  which  he  adhered  in  an  earlier  day.  Could  he  see  the 
work  as  carried  on  by  many  who  insist  they  are  teaching 
sloyd,  he  would  cry  out  against  the  practices  as  being 
narrow  and  mean  and  spiritless. 

Most  of  those,  too,  who  have  abandoned  the  term  sloyd 
and  attached  another  horse  to  their  cart,  will,  if  they 
analyze  fully  their  work,  find  it  is  as  far  from  the  indus- 
trial and  the  actual  as  is  the  product  of  the  old  school.  I 
know  school  men  of  broad  education,  open  minded  and 
scholarly,  who  still  refuse  to  believe  that  the  manual 
training  of  to-day  has  a  place  of  importance  hi  the  school. 
For  these  men  I  have  no  word  of  criticism.  They  are,  I 
fear,  in  a  measure,  justified  in  their  attitude,  their  belief 


86  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

being  based  upon  their  knowledge  of  manual  training 
as  they  see  it  in  the  cities  and  towns  with  which  they  are 
familiar.  What  they  have  seen  is  work  in  one  or  another 
material, — articles  produced  by  certain  tool  manipula- 
tions— articles  supposed,  indeed,  to  be  of  actual  use. 
The  results,  however,  even  though  of  superior  technical 
quality  and  produced  under  the  guidance  of  a  teacher  of 
mechanical  attainments,  are  not  educational.  They  do 
not  touch  deeply  and  thoroughly  the  interests  and  needs 
and  environment  of  the  people.  They  have  to  do,  not 
with  life,  but  with  lessons. 

This  matter  of  the  real  as  opposed  to  the  artificial  in 

manual  training  was  brought  home  to  me 

Keai  vs.  most  forcibly  in  two  ways  at  the  St.  Louis 

Artificial  J  J 

exposition.  It  was  remarkable  that  while  in 
high  school  work  some  little  attention  was  given  to  what 
might  be  considered  the  thought  processes,  in  almost  every 
elementary  school  course  shown,  a  traditional  sameness 
was  apparent,  the  flower  sticks  and  the  plant  labels  being 
always  in  evidence.  What  a  welcome  change,  however, 
when  one  visited  the  exhibits  from  the  country  of  the  mar- 
velous little  Filipino.  Those  who  saw  this  exhibit  will 
recall  what  a  vast  array  of  native  hand  work  was  shown, 
rugs,  baskets,  articles  of  furniture,  utensils  for  house- 
hold use,  tools,  decorative  materials, — these  and  a  host 
of  other  things  were  exhibited,  all  work  calling  for  con- 
structive ability  and  appreciation  of  design.  It  was  with 
a  feeling  of  delight  that  I  observed  some  of  the  specimens 
of  handicraft  of  the  children  of  these  islands,  so  useful,  so 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  87 

beautiful,  and  made  from  the  materials  with  which  the 
makers  were  surrounded.  As  I  examined  these  products, 
a  young  man,  an  American  teacher  in  the  Islands,  asked 
if  he  might  show  me  the  best  work  in  manual  training 
done  by  the  school  children,  —  something  that  would 
point  clearly  to  the  fact  that  they  were  being  educated. 
I  was  dragged  to  a  sacred  part  of  the  exhibit  and  shown 
a  glass  case,  with  a  "Do  not  handle"  sign,  containing 
some  of  the  most  uselessly  useful  objects,  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  makers,  that  could  be  conceived.  There  were 
bits  of  cloth  with  sample  stitches,  pin  bowls,  flower  sticks 
again,  corner  shelves  for  bric-a-brac  and  more  of  like  char- 
acter made  of  wood  (much  of  it  being  American  wood)  by 
American  tools,  under  American  teachers,  and  containing 
elements  neither  of  utility  nor  beauty. 

I  left  the  exhibit  more  saddened  than  disgusted.  In- 
stead of  directing  the  native  abilities  and  natural  artistic 
tendencies  along  channels  making  for  thought  and  power 
and  for  advancement  mentally,  commercially  and  in- 
dustrially, we  are  trying  to  cast  them  in  a  mold  that  has 
been  fashioned  to  fit  a  race  decades  in  advance,  and, 
withal,  a  mold  that  is  man  made  and  too  often,  from 
the  standpoint  of  utility  and  beauty,  defective. 

This  incident  I  have  used  as  an  illustration.  Have  I 
made  the  case  too  strong?  I  am  simply  putting  the  mat- 
ter at  its  utmost  point  to  illustrate  more  clearly  the  great 
principle  under  discussion.  There  are  many  intermediate 
stations,  I  grant  you;  but  those  who  are  familiar  only 
with  the  work  in  their  immediate  neighborhood  or  in  a 


88  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

particular  school,  would  marvel  at  some  of  the  wonders 
to  be  seen  in  the  educational  world.  It  is  remarkable 
how  slight  consideration  is  given  locality  and  environ- 
ment in  the  make-up  of  a  course  of  study.  How  much 
more  important  that  the  child  in  any  given  locality  should 
learn  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of  the  materials  which 
nature  has  provided  at  hand  than  that  he  should  deal  with 
the  product  of  the  distant  place  and  follow  the  work  laid 
down  for  his  foreign  brother,  in  order  that  at  a  given 
moment  every  pupil  in  the  universe  may  be  working  upon 
exactly  the  same  thing.  Even  though  the  plea  of  utility 
may  sometimes  be  made,  one  usually  finds  that  little 
mental  energy  in  construction  is  demanded. 

Let  us  have  a  real,  live,  industrial  form  of  work  in  this 
day  when  the  topic  which  overshadows  in  public  interest 
is  "the  industrial  and  commercial  development  of  this 
country,  and  the  training  which  should  be  given  our  youth  in 
the  public  schools,  colleges,  universities,  and  special  schools 
to  best  fit  them  for  the  changing  conditions  which  the  twen- 
tieth century  is  bringing  to  them."  *  This  is  a  wholesome 
sentiment  and  is  in  accord  with  what  has  already  been  said. 

There  remains,  however,  one  side  of  the  question  of 
industrial  education  yet  to  be  emphasized, — 

able  for'oiris  t^iat  °*  ^and  wor^  ^or  S^8'  More  and  more, 
attention  is  being  given  such  work  in  the 
schools,  but  too  frequently  it  is  from  the  sentimental  stand- 
point. The  boys  have  manual  training,  consequently  we 
must  provide  some  work  with  which  the  girls  may  occupy 

*  Convocation  Council,  State  of  New  York,  1905. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  89 

their  time  during  such  periods.  Such  an  argument  is  no 
argument  at  all. 

The  time  has  passed  when  any  thinking  man  or  woman 
will  advocate  the  same  kind  or  type  of  work  for  boys  and 
girls  alike.  In  the  early  grades  all  may  engage  in  similar 
occupations,  but  differentiation  should  not  be  long  de- 
layed and  work  suitable  to  the  aptitudes,  desires  and  needs 
of  girls  should  be  offered  and  required. 

At  present,  aside  from  art  training  and  physical  cul- 
ture, no  industrial  work  is  given  the  girls  save  sewing  and 
cooking,  and  these  in  the  upper  grammar  grades  and  a 
few  special  high  schools.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enter  here 
into  a  discussion  as  to  why  these  arts  cannot  or  are  not 
taught  in  the  home.  Such  economic  and  sociological 
questions  are  involved  as  seem  to  be  a  barrier  to  home 
teaching,  although  the  value  of  home  instruction  is  un- 
questioned. Continuous  courses  through  the  grades,  the 
high  school  and  the  college  should  be  offered.  Not  only 
sewing  and  cooking  in  the  narrower  aspects,  but  a  study 
of  the  chemistry  of  foods,  simple  analysis,  marketing  in 
its  economic  aspects;  house  sanitation,  plumbing,  heat, 
light,  ventilation,  fuel,  disinfectants;  proper  methods  of 
sweeping,  dusting,  laundering  and  care  of  the  home; 
hygiene,  emergency  aid  and  nursing;  a  knowledge  of  ac- 
counts and  business  forms,  domestic  architecture  and 
planning  of  the  house  and  grounds;  gardening  and  tree 
and  floral  culture  and  much  more  that  in  the  Swiss  schools 
is  included  under  the  term  "female  hand  work"  and 
which  is  both  practical  and  cultural. 


90  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

Teachers  have  in  the  past  held  tenaciously  to  the  idea 

that  accuracy  and  precision  in  execution  are 

Accuracy         the  paramount  issues.    This  thought  has  had 

Bather  than  ...  , 

Thought  much   influence   m   shaping  the   courses  m 

hand  work.  Exercises  have  been  arranged 
chiefly  to  meet  this  demand.  The  exercises,  carefully 
thought  out,  have  been  based  upon  principles  that  seem 
fixed.  We  have  failed  to  see,  however,  that  while  a  prin- 
ciple may  be  unchanging,  the  applications  will  be  chang- 
ing constantly  when  the  developing,  growing,  expanding 
mind  of  the  child  is  in  question.  There  are  planned  elab- 
orate schemes  of  models  and  accurately  arranged  sequences 
of  manipulations,  attempting  to  fit  the  demands  of  the  boy 
or  girl  to  these  exercises,  rather  than  following  the  reverse 
order,  that  of  fitting  the  occupation  to  the  individual  boy 
or  girl. 

In  this  manner  certain  set  forms,  progressive  sequences, 
particular  materials  have  somehow  been  considered  by 
teachers,  supervisors,  and  superintendents  as  the  sine  qua 
non  in  hand  work.    Systems  rather  than  system,  methods 
instead  of  method,   have  been  the  thought  before  us. 
Since  a  somewhat  broader  and  more  rational  view  has  be- 
gun to  animate  most  of  our  other  school  work,  the  same 
spirit  is  being  applied  in  our  manual  training  courses. 
Technique  ?    Yes.    The  value  of  technique,  of  accuracy, 
hni  °^   Pr°ducing   something  exact  in  every  de- 

tail is  unquestioned.  To  me  there  is  some- 
thing grand,  almost  humanly  moral,  in  a  piece  of  work 
perfect  in  construction.  But  is  technique  the  end  and  aim 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  91 

of  a  course  in  manual  training  or  in  any  other  school  sub- 
ject? Is  it  the  end  of  life?  "Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom 
of  God." — I  see  greater  technique  in  the  petals  of  a 
flower,  no  two  of  which  are  counterparts  in  size,  form 
or  color,  than  in  twenty-seven  match  brackets,  each 
made  from  one-fourth  inch  stock,  the  backs  regular 
in  outline  and  of  exact  and  unchanging  dimensions. 
Is  there  no  technique  in  the  coloring  of  the  birds;  and 
are  they  all  alike?  Must  we  have  uniformity  to  get 
technique,  even  though  there  are  no  two  Japanese  prints 
exactly  similar?  Let  us  have  technique,  but  if  it  must 
be  gained  at  the  expense  of  producing  pupils  with  in- 
dividuality gone,  with  independence  .dwarfed  and  power 
of  leadership  undeveloped,  then  bury  technique  and  look 
for  soul. 

But,  you  say,  individuality  later.  The  child  must  not 
be  allowed  to  choose  at  first.  He  must  learn  his  alphabet, 
his  multiplication  table,  his  notes  in  music,  and  thus  lay 
the  foundation.  Technique  and  the  tools  of  knowledge 
must  be  had  in  the  beginning.  Whatever  gram  of  truth 
there  may  be  hi  this  philosophy,  the  husks  will  come  soon 
enough  at  the  best.  Give  the  child  the  fruit.  Give  him 
work  that  will  make  him  happy  and  contented  and  willing 
to  remain  in  school.  Remember  with  Eugene  Field  that, 

"  It's  the  songs  ye  sing 
And  the  smiles  ye  wear, 
That's  a  makin'  the  sun  shine  everywhere 
Whatever  the  weather  may  be." 

The  wholesome  unrest  in  the  past  few  years  and  the 


92  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

change  in  the  outward  form  of  the  work  are  welcome 
signs.  To  borrow  the  thought  of  another, 
A  Broader  we  find  the  reason  for  Plato's  relation  to 
sentiai  *~  so  many  thinking  men  and  women  to-day,  to 
be  his  willingness  to  give  them  all  standing 
room  in  his  conception.  The  present  in  industrial  training 
owes  its  being  largely  to  our  willingness  to  allow,  in  ever 
increasing  ratio,  standing  room  to  those  who  think  dif- 
ferently from  ourselves.  It  owes  it  also  to  the  fact  that  a 
tradition  may  not  be  accepted  unless  based  upon  the 
philosophy  of  common  sense. 

I  take  it  as  a  healthful  sign,  that  a  conservative  spirit 
has  been  manifest  in  this  subject  of  hand 
work.  Many  have  been  slow  to  modify  old 


tionaicon-       ideas,   seeing   as   they   did,   the   extreme   to 

servatism  ,.,,  ,        .        .        , 

which  the  enthusiastic  advocates  of  the  newer 
thought  were  wont  to  go.  Naturally  enough,  some  of 
these  latter  have  discarded  entirely,  course,  or  planned 
out,  work.  Method  has  too  often  been  cast  aside,  and  the 
terms  self-expression,  interest,  individual  initiative,  have 
been  warped  out  of  perspective.  In  such  instances  the 
nature  and  content  of  the  instruction  have  been  left  too 
exclusively  to  the  whims  of  the  child.  The  demands  of 
the  social  and  industrial  phases  of  life  have  been  construed 
to  mean,  —  what  the  child  wants  to  do.  The  desires  of  the 
pupil  are  frequently  only  passing  whims  against  which 
the  greater  experience  of  the  teacher  should  surely  count 
for  something.  We  shall,  therefore,  consider  the  larger 
demands  of  society  as  a  whole  in  shaping  our  work. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  93 

We  are  coming  in  this  subject  of  hand  work,  to  have  a 
broad,  tolerant,  truly  educational  view.    Let 

US  ^  to  'lt  tnat  we  sna11  not>  as  m  tne  Past, 

over -CUT-       defeat  the  very  ends  set  for  manual  training 

ricularized "       t  . 

by  over  "curncularizing"  it,  as  we  have 
other  subjects.  Only  are  real,  actual,  educational  ends 
served  when  the  work  is  related  to  the  child,  to  the  other 
school  occupations,  to  the  home  life,  and  hence  to  the 
life  after  leaving  the  school. 

Perhaps  the  industrial  arts  can,  in  greater  measure 
than  most  subjects,  help  the  child  to  interpret 
tne  ^acts  anc*  forces  that  play  about  him, 
strengthen  those  habits  that  shall  render  him 
capable  of  being  depended  upon  to  perform  a  task  at  an 
appointed  season  and  in  the  proper  manner,  put  him  hi 
sympathy  with  his  environment,  enable  him  to  appreciate 
those  elements  that  shape  his  life  and  the  lives  of  his 
fellows,  render  him  capable  of  seeing  his  relations  to  so- 
ciety as  a  whole  and  the  part  he  is  to  play  therein,  take 
from  yesterday  and  to-day  all  that  is  good,  and  true,  and 
noble,  and  work  toward  a  to-morrow  whose  Industrial, 
social,  intellectual,  and  moral  phases  shall  point  ever 
progressward. 

Let  us  remember  that  in  manual  training,  as  elsewhere 
in  school  work,  it  is  the  man-made  course  of  study  that 
often  fails  to  find  its  true  place  and  that  the  child  himself 
may  frequently  suggest  the  element  of  greatest  value. 
The  natural  is  more  than  the  artificial. 

Some  months  since,  I  stood  upon  a  mountain-top  and 


94  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

saw  far  below  into  the  wonderful  valley  where  spire, 
and  stream,  and  tree,  stood  out  silent  and  beautiful.  A 
companion  turned  to  me  after  some  moments  of  silence 
and  said,  "Man  works  upon  a  grand  scale.  See  this 
valley,  once  barren  and  dreary  and  unpeopled,  now  a 
garden  spot  of  peace  with  its  thousands  of  happy  homes 
and  its  prosperous  towns."  "Yes,"  I  replied,  "man  does 
work  upon  a  grand  scale;  but  God  works  upon  a  grander. 
See  what  nature  has  done,"  and  there,  stretching  away 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  pierce,  range  upon  range,  and  peak 
upon  peak  arose,  one  beyond  another,  canyon  and  scarred 
mountain  side  and  snow-capped  crest,  without  which  no 
peaceful  valley  would  have  been  possible. 

THESES 

1.  The  widespread  introduction  of  the  industrial  arts 
necessitates  the  study  of  them  by  the  regular  teacher. 

2.  The    past   few   years   have    brought   about    many 
changes  in  the  teaching  of  the  subject. 

3.  Many  of  the  arguments  put  forward  in  favor  of 
manual  training  were  sound;  others  were  fallacious  and 
visionary. 

4.  The  term  manual  training  is  not  sufficiently  com- 
prehensive. 

5.  Of  the  various  motives  prompting  the  introduction 
of  hand  work  into  the  curriculum,  we  have  as  the  most 
important : 

a.  Love  for  and  appreciation  of  labor. 

b.  Satisfies  the  child's  demand  for  creative  activity. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  95 

c.  Understanding  of  our  industrial  life. 

d.  Valuable  as  recreative  work. 

e.  Develops  the  physical  powers. 

f.  Deception  cannot  readily  be  practised  in  dealing 

with  the  arts. 

g.  Gives  general  dexterity  of  hand. 

h.  Lays  foundation  for  one  of  several  trades. 

i.  Lends  clearness  to  the  other  less  concrete  subjects. 

6.  Two  typical  systems  compared: 

a.  The  exercise  system,  or  the  making  of  abstract 

pieces  exemplified  by  the  Russian  System. 

b.  The  model  system,  or  the  constructing  of  complete 

objects.     The  Swedish  sloyd  typifies  this  idea. 

7.  While  we  have  too  often  been  guided  by  tradition 
alone,  we  have  also  adhered  to  old  principles  long  ago 
forsaken  by  those  who  first  put  them  forward. 

8.  In  order  to  break  loose  from  the  artificial  tendency, 
environment  and  utility  must  be  considered. 

9.  Accuracy  and  technique  are  to  be  considered,  but 
hi  connection  with  the  thought  values  only.    Systems  and 
methods  in  hand  work  must  give  place  to  processes  touch- 
ing closely  the  actual  life  of  the  pupil.    Individual  initia- 
tive, however,  must  not  be  construed  to  mean  the  mere 
whim  of  the  individual. 

10.  A  broad  and  tolerant  outlook  and  a  rational  con- 
servatism are  necessary  elements. 

n.  Over  "curricularization"  will  stultify  and  weaken 
hand  work  as  it  has  other  school  subjects.  Properly  pre- 
sented, the  industrial  arts  possess  great  educational  value. 


96  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

TOPICS    FOR    STUDY 

1.  Is  manual  training  to  be  taught  as  a  regular  subject 
as  are  arithmetic  and  geography,  or  is  it  to  become  an  illus- 
trative or  expressive  element  in  each  of  the  other  school 
subjects  ? 

2.  If  the  former,  is  the  instruction  to  be  given  by  special 
teachers,  and  are  they  being  adequately  trained  ? 

3.  If  the  latter,  are  we  to  have  special  teachers,  or  are 
the  grade  teachers  to  instruct  in  the  arts? 

4.  How    may   the   class   teacher   acquire   a   technical 
knowledge  of  processes  and  a  realizing  sense  of  the  ne- 
cessity for  such  work  ? 

5.  Will  the  teaching  then  be  conducted  in  the  regular 
class  room  with  special  equipment  ? 

6.  Shall  older  boys  and  girls  engage  in  like  occupations, 
and  if  not,  where  shall  differentiation  for  work  between 
boys   and  girls    begin,  and    what  forms    shall  be  given 
each? 

7.  If  the  regular  teacher  carries  the  manual  courses 
as  well,  shall  we  insist  upon  men  for  the  upper  grades;  or 
if  as  under  the  present  system  of  special  instruction,  are 
we  to  increase  the  force  of  male  teachers;  and  in  any 
event,  how  can  we  obtain  them  at  the  present  salary  rate  ? 

8.  At  present,  in  most  towns  and  cities  where  boys  in 
the  grades  have  from  two  to  three  years'  instruction  deal- 
ing chiefly  with  wood,  is  their  interest  in  working  with 
this  material  so  weakened  as  to  render  them  half-hearted 
in  the  woodwork  courses  of  the  high  school  ? 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  97 

9.  Discuss  in  detail  the  likelihood  that  too  much  stress 
is  laid  upon  technique  and  finish  in  the  work  accomplished, 
without  sufficient  attention  to  the  thought  side. 

10.  Consider  fully  as  to  whether  there  is  a  false  stand- 
ard underlying  our  interpretation  of  the  term  educational 
as  applied  to  the  arts,  and  whether  the  processes  should 
touch  more  closely  the  actual  demands  of  real  life, — that 
which  we  are  pleased  to  term  the  utilitarian  as  opposed 
to  the  educational  view. 

11.  Should  individual  or  communal  work  characterize 
the  spirit  of  the  grades  or  of  the  high  school  ? 

12.  How  is    the   beautiful  in    form,  hi  construction, 
and  in  decoration  to  become  a  part  of  the  work  ?    Should 
both  design  and    construction  be    taught  by    the  same 
teacher? 

13.  Consider  the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages  of 
following  a  rigidly  defined  course,  as  against  allowing  the 
pupil  to  do  largely  as  he  will.    What  is  the  rational  ground 
to  take  here? 

14.  How  may  the  equipment  provided  for  work  along 
manual  lines  find  a  more  complete  use  through  evening 
or  Saturday  classes? 

15.  What  has  the  kindergarten  to  offer  as  an  index  of 
the  trend  that  manual  training  should  take? 

1 6.  Discuss  the  main  reasons  advanced  for  not  mak- 
ing  hand  work  a  part  of  the  course  of  study  in  every 
school. 

17.  Under     conditions    as     they     now    exist,   deter- 
mine whether  the  general  normal  school  can  give  all  the 

Standards — 7 


98  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

training    necessary    to    equip    special    teachers    of  the 
arts. 

1 8.  Make  a  list  of  the  forms  of  work  that  can  be  taught 
in  the  various  grades  with  small  outlay  and  little  equipment. 

19.  Estimate  the  cost  of  equipping  for  hand  work  a 
room  to  accommodate  classes  of  twenty  pupils  each.    Do 
the  same  for  a  room  to  accommodate  twenty  girls  in  Do- 
mestic Science  (cooking)  and  a  like  number  in  Domestic 
Art  (sewing). 

20.  Give  the  arguments  in  favor  of  teaching  sewing  or 
cooking,  or  both,  to  girls  in  the  grades.    Should  the  sew- 
ing be  done  in  the  regular  class  room? 

21.  Consider  the  opportunities  and  limitations,  in  the 
several  grades,  of  the  following  processes: 

a.  Clay  modeling. 

b.  Pottery. 

c.  Paper  work. 

d.  Cardboard  construction. 

e.  Bent  iron. 

f.  Metal  spinning. 

g.  Copper  and  brass  work, 
h.  Work  in  thin  wood. 

i.  Whittling, 

j.  Bench  work  in  wood, 

k.  Weaving,  and  textiles. 

1.  Basketry, 

m.  Bookbinding. 

n.  Domestic  Science. 

o,  Domestic  Art. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING 


99 


22.  Make  a  list  of  the  larger  cities  in  the  United  States 
where  some  form  of  industrial  training  is  taught. 

23.  What  cities  or  towns  having  once  introduced  man- 
ual training  have  discontinued  its  use  as  a  school  subject  ? 
What  were  the  reasons  given  for  such  procedure  ? 

24.  Shall  sewing,  cooking,  and  the  household  sciences 
be  classed  as  industrial  training  subjects? 

25.  Wherein  is  the  term  manual  training  inadequate? 
Suggest  the  term  you  consider  most  hi  keeping  with  the 
spirit  of  the  work  as  now  carried  on. 

CONSULT 

BALLIET  Manual    Training:    Its    Educational   Value. 

59th  Annual  Report,  Mass.  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, p.  483. 

BALDWIN  Industrial-Social  Education  for  the  Primary 

and  Grammar  School  Grades.  Proceed- 
ings Eastern  Manual  Training  Association, 
1904,  p.  104. 

BENNETT  Russian  System  of  Manual  Training.     Art 

Education,  vol.  2,  pp.  75, 148. 

CHAMBERLAIN  Technical  Education  in  Germany,  sec.  II. 
The  Manual  Element  in  the  Schools  of 
Germany.  Manual  Training  Magazine, 
vol.  i,  p.  124. 

The  Problems  that  Perplex.     Proceedings  Na- 
tional Educational  Association,  1905,  p.  558. 

DOPP  The  Place  of  Industries  in  Elementary  Educa- 

tion. 

DEWEY  The  School  and  Society. 


ioo  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

GILBERT  Manual  Training  High  Schools  or  Manual 

Training  in  High  Schools.  Proceedings  Na- 
tional Educational  Association,  1904,  p.  614. 

HAM  Mind  and  Hand. 

HANEY  The  Arts  in  Theory:  A  Statement  of  Ideals. 

Education,  vol.  26,  p.  161. 

HARVEY  Manual  Training  in  the  Grades.  Proceedings 

National  Educational  Association,  1905, 
p.  121. 

HENDERSON  The  Manual  Training  Outlook.  Manual 
Training  Magazine,  vol.  2,  p.  65. 

HILL  The  Manual  Training  Idea.  Manual  Train- 

ing Magazine,  vol.  i,  p.  i. 

JACKMAN  The  Constructive  Idea  in  Education.  Pro- 

ceedings National  Educational  Associa- 
tion, 1904,  p.  594. 

KEYES  True  Test  of  Educational  Manual  Training. 

Proceedings,  Eastern  Manual  Training 
Association,  1898,  p.  7. 

LARSSON  The  Origin  and  History  of  the  Sloyd  in 

Sweden,  etc.  Proceedings  Eastern  Manual 
Training  Association,  1899,  p.  5. 

MANEY  Industrial  Training  as  a  Social  Factor.  Man- 

ual Training  Magazine,  vol.  2,  p.  129. 

McMuRRY  How  can  Class  Teachers  be  Educated  to  the 
Value  of  Manual  Training?  Proceedings 
National  Educational  Association,  1905, 

P-  563- 

MONROE  The  Educational  Bearings  of  Manual  Train- 

ing. Proceedings  Eastern  Manual  Train- 
ing Association,  1903,  p.  70. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING 


101 


O'SHEA  Dynamic  Factors  in  Education,  chaps.  4*5. 

PABST  Manual  Training  in  Germany.    Report  of  the 

Conference  of  Manual  Training  Teachers, 
London,  1903,  p.  78. 

PARKER  Talks  on  Pedagogics. 

RICHARDS  Some  Practical  Problems  in  Manual  Training. 

Manual  Training  Magazine,  vol.  4,  p.  142. 

How  Early  may  Hand  Work  be  made  a  part  of 

the  School  Work?     Proceedings  National 

Educational  Association,  1901,  p.  100. 

SALOMON  Theory  of  Sloyd. 

Hand  Book  of  Sloyd. 

The  Naas  System  and  the  Naas  Models.  Re- 
port of  the  Conference  of  Manual  Training 
Teachers,  London,  1903,  p.  73. 

SCRIPTURE          Manual  Training  and  Mental  Development. 
Manual  Training  Magazine,  vol.  i,  p.  16. 

SEIDEL  Industrial  Instruction. 

WARE  The  Educational  Foundations  of  Trade  and 

Industry. 

WOODWARD        Rise  and  Progress  of  Manual  Training.    Re- 
port of  the  Commissioner  of  Education, 
1893-94,  pp.  877-950. 
Manual  Training  in  Education. 

WARNER  Teaching  Trades  in  Connection  with  the  Pub- 

lic Schools.     Proceedings  National  Educa- 
tional Association,  1900,  p.  492. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION 

CORRELATION  of  school  studies,  concentration,  interre- 
lation, coordination,  and  the  later  term,  unification,  carry 
with  them  varying  shades  of  content,  while  at  the  same 
time  we  find  them  frequently  interpreted  as  meaning  one 
and  the  same  thing.  Each  term  in  the  abstract  means 
substantially  nothing.  Used  thus  the  interpretation  of 
its  meaning  is  either  so  limited  that  its  value  is  slight,  or 
so  broad  and  extensive  that  only  a  vague  indefinite- 
ness  attaches  to  it.  To  use  one  or  another  of  these 
terms  in  the  sense  indicated  would  be  as  illogical  as  to 
say  that  a  certain  study  made  for  mental  development, 
since  the  term  mental  development  may  cover  almost  any- 
thing desired  in  the  field  of  education. 

The  subject  of  correlation  is  widely  considered.  Dur- 
ing the  past  two  decades  hardly  a  writer  upon  educational 
topics  has  failed  to  devote  more  or  less  space  to  a  discus- 
sion of  the  genesis  of  correlation  and  to  its  application  to 
school  studies.  The  most  discouraging  feature  of  the 
whole  matter  is  that  many  of  the  early  exponents  espe- 
cially, knew  almost  nothing  about  the  subject.  They 
simply  restated  in  a  new  phraseology  the  utterance  of 
some  educational  philosopher. 

102 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION  103 

One  fallacy  may  also  be  said  to  have  existed  in  most  of 
the  arguments  advanced  in  substantiation  of  the  various 
theories ;  they  evidently  were  not  sound. 

That  there  are,  however,  certain  fundamental  principles 
underlying  the  doctrine  of  correlation  cannot  well  be  de- 
nied. What  are  these  principles,  what  gives  rise  to 
them,  and  what  are  the  educational  implications  of  the 
doctrine  ? 

Of  the  several  basic  facts  as  enunciated  by  Herbart  in 
his  educational  philosophy,  the  doctrine  of 
ies  isolated  concentration  may  claim  a  prominent  place. 
To  the  mind  of  Herbart,  the  school  life  of 
the  child  is  too  scattered  ;  the  school  studies  too  isolated, 
one  from  another.  Just  as  the  several  members  of  a 
door-frame,  or  the  parts  of  a  machine  have  a  certain  defi- 
nite connection  or  interrelation,  so  should  the  various  por- 
tions of  a  given  subject  be  connected,  and  the  different 
school  studies  associated  together.  Then  instead  of  iso- 
lation we  should  have  a  thread  of  unity  running  through 
the  entire  school  course. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  thought,  take  the  subject  of 
literature.  We  cannot  get  at  the  true  meaning  of  the 
literature  of  a  people  without  at  the  same  time  coming 
into  intimate  touch  with  their  history,  their  manners, 
their  customs.  Here  again  we  find  that  geography,  lo- 
cation, environment,  physical  conditions,  cli- 
reiation  mate,  soil,  are  not  only  part  and  parcel  of, 

but  in  reality  are  at  the  very  base  of,  his- 
torical study,  thus  relating  back  to  the  literature.     Hence, 


104  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

geography,  history  and  literature  are  seen  to  have  a  di- 
rect connection,  not  superficially,  but  in  fact.  It  is  there- 
fore quite  clear  that  history,  mathematics  or  botany 
cannot  be  studied  to  the  best  advantage  as  a  subject 
isolated,  but  must  be  thrown  into  certain  interrela- 
tions. 

The  doctrine  of  Herbart  was  taken  up  and  enunciated 
in  Germany  by  such  men  as  Ziller,  Stoy,  and  Rein  and  has 
had  considerable  support  in  our  own  country.  To  the 
idea  as  advanced  by  Herbart  regarding  the  natural  unified 
nature  of  the  school  subjects,  must  be  added  Froebel's 
thought  of  the  unity  of  the  human  being. 

In  the  application  of  the  correlation  principle,  two 
theories  at  once  arise,  these  growing  out  of  a  difference 

of  opinion  as  to  the  social  basis  of  correla- 
^eeaGroup  tion.  It  has  been  held  by  some,  that  certain 

groups  of  school  subjects  naturally  lend  them- 
selves as  centers  for  study,  and  around  these  centers  the 
other  school  subjects  should  be  arranged.  For  example, 
history  and  literature  form  one  central  group,  the  biologi- 
cal sciences  another,  while  geography,  geology  and  min- 
eralogy constitute  a  third  group,  and  so  on,  each  subject 
in  these  special  groups  being  of  equal  value,  one  with 
another.  Here  we  have  several  coordinate  groups  of 

studies.  Again,  a  second  theory  places 
The  Individ-  eac^  subject  in  turn  as  the  central  one  ;  that 

ual  Subject  .  J 

aa  center          is,  the  subject  under    consideration  is  the 

thing  of  concern.    As  the  main  element  all 

other  subjects  must,  for  the  time,  be  subsidiary  to  it  and 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION  105 

flow  in  to  enrich  its  content.     In  this  instance  concen- 
tration plays  the  leading  part. 

Since,  however,  the  child  is  to  be  considered  as  the 
real  center  for  study,  and  for  correlation  as  well,  it  seems 
to  be  generally  admitted  that  the  so-called  humanistic 
studies,  as  opposed  to  the  formal,  or  those  that  seem  to 
relate  themselves  most  intimately  to  the  actual  social  ex- 
istence of  the  child,  should  claim  attention  as  central  sub- 
jects. Mathematics,  spelling  and  writing  are 
Humanistic  typical  of  the  formal  studies.  Those  ranking 

and  Formal 

studies  as  humanistic  would  seem  to  include  geogra- 

phy, history  and  the  natural  sciences,  while 
to  these  may  be  added  the  industrial  arts,  including  con- 
struction in  any  material  whatsoever.  This  last  classifi- 
cation is  justified  since  the  desire  for  expression  on  the 
part  of  the  child  is  a  controlling  motive.  It  is  further 
insisted  that  in  the  beginning,  all  else  in  school  is  seen  in 
the  light  of  self-expression  and  motor  activity.  To  re- 
peat, the  child  is  the  center  as  the  hub  is  the  center  of  a 
wheel,  the  various  activities  and  studies  radiating  as  do  the 
spokes.  This  makes  the  matter  of  correlation  something 
from  within,  something  intrinsic,  something 
The  child  as  vital,  instead  of  being  added  or  tacked  on  to 

Center 

the  outside.  In  this  sense  the  necessity  for 
correlation  will  be  seen  to  exist  not  in  the  subject-matter 
itself,  but  in  the  very  nature  of  the  individual. 

Dr.  Charles  McMurry  in  his  General  Method  says  : 
"  The  center  for  concentrating  effort  in  education  is  not 
so  much  the  knowledge  given  in  any  school  course  as 


io6  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

the  child's  mind  itself.  We  do  not  desire  to  find  in  the 
school  studies  a  new  center  for  a  child's  life,  so  much  as 
the  means  for  fortifying  that  original  stronghold  of  char- 
acter which  rests  upon  native  mental  characteristics  and 
early  home  influences.  We  have  in  mind  not  the  objec- 
tive unity  of  different  studies  considered  as  complete 
and  related  sciences,  nor  any  general  model  to  which 
each  mind  is  to  be  conformed,  but  the  practical  union 
of  all  the  experiences  and  knowledge  that  find  entrance 
into  a  particular  mind."  * 

The  one  who  first  in  our  country  put  this  idea  of  con- 
centration into  definite  form  was  Colonel  Francis  W. 
Parker.  In  his  Talks  on  Pedagogics  we  find  the  follow- 
ing :  "  The  center  of  all  movement  in  education  is  the 
child.  We  must  grant  that  human  beings  are  absolutely 
governed  by  immutable,  ever-acting,  all-efficient  laws  of 

growth  and  development,  and  that  all  devel- 
ment  means  opment  means  conformity  to  the  laws  of 
Conformity  being  \  nonconformity  is  decay,  degradation, 

and  death."  In  the  same  volume  the  au- 
thor says:  "The  present  trend  of  study,  investigation, 
and  discovery  in  the  science  of  education  is  toward  the 

correlation  and  unification  of  educative  sub- 
seif-Actiyity  jects,  and  their  concentration  upon  human 

a  Governing 

Force  development.      All    subjects,     means,     and 

modes  of  study  are  concentrated  under  this 

doctrine    upon  economization  of   educative  effort.      In 

the  unification  and  correlation  of  subjects  of  thought  and 

*  Chas.  McMurry :  Elements  of  General  Method,  First  Edition,  p.  98. 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION  107 

expression,  each  subject,  means,  mode,  and  method  finds 
its  absolute  and  relative  educational  value,  its  definite 
place  in  the  conditions  for  self-activity  and  self-effort." 

Here,  then,  would  seem  to  be  the  main  point  of  differ- 
ence between  correlation  and  concentration,  in  so  far  as 
those  who  do  not  consider  the  terms  as  synonymous  are 
concerned.  Correlation  has  to  do  largely  with  school 
studies,  while  concentration  covers  not  only 
correlation  the  field  of  the  former  term  but  goes  further, 

vs.  Concen-  . 

tration  penetrating  the  home  life  of  the  pupil ;  pro- 

jecting itself  into  his  sports,  his  social  expe- 
riences ;  in  fact,  having  to  do  with  the  most  fundamental 
problems  of  his  nature.  Once  a  correlation  exists,  then 
concentration  may  step  in  to  relate  the  study,  means,  and 
modes  to  life  interests. 

We  have  alluded  to  the  term  unification  in  an  inciden- 
tal way  only.  What  is  the  force,  the  application,  and  the 
value  of  the  unification  of  studies,  and  wherein  does  it 
differ  from  the  correlation  idea  ? 

In  continuing  the  discussion  upon  the  Report  of  the 

Committee  of  Fifteen,  Doctor  Emerson  E.  White,  under 

the  title  Isolation  and  Unification  as  Bases  of  Courses  of 

Study,  speaks  thus  regarding  the  indefiniteness  of  our 

educational  terminology  :  "  One  of  the  first  conditions  of 

the    intelligent    reading  of  a  work  on  psy- 

taSSto*7     chology  is  the   determining  of  the  definite 

meaning  of  the  terms  used  by  the  author.     A 

common  source  of  disagreement  is  the  use  of  words  by 

one  party  with  a  larger  or  smaller  content  than  the  other, 


io8  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

and  this  is  true   even  when   these  contents  contain  a 
considerable  common  element."  * 

"  We  have  an  instructive  example  of  this  difficulty  in 
the  discussion  of  the  past  year  over  the  place  and  value 
of  correlation,  coordination,  and  concentration  in  school 
instruction.  The  discussion  has  been  a  Babel  of  ideas, 
if  not  of  tongues,  and  well-meant  attempts  to  settle  the 
pedagogical  meaning  of  these  terms  have  only  added  to 
the  confusion.  After  all  that  has  been  said,  several  writ- 
ers for  the  educational  journals  are  using  the  incongruous 
terms  coordination  and  concentration  as  synonymous.  One 
of  the  surprises  of  the  profession  was  the  expressed  ex- 
pectation that  a  recent  report  on  the  '  correlation  of  stud- 
ies '  would  be  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the  theory  of 
concentration."  f  Doctor  White  then  goes  on  to  say  that 
his  desire  to  avoid  misunderstanding  has  led  him  to  use 
the  terms  isolation,  and  unification,  as  denoting  opposite 
processes  and  results.  As  Dr.  White's  discussion  is  based 
upon  reports  dealing  with  the  correlation  of  studies,  it 
would  seem  that  he  intends  the  term  unification  to  carry 
the  same  content  as  the  former  term  correlation. 

Studies  are  unified  when  two,  three,  or  a  half  dozen 
are  so  brought  together  as  to  form  a  common 
branch  of  study,  the  facts  being  so  connected 
as  to  produce  a  rational  trend  of  thought  and 
the  end  or  purpose  to  be  attained,  being  a  common  end. 

*  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1895-96,  p.  929;  also  Pro- 
ceedings Department  of  Superintendence,  N.  E.  A.,  1896. 
t  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1895-96,  p.  930. 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION  109 

Here  the  thought  of  the  precedence  of  one  subject  over 
another  has  no  place,  it  being  possible  for  instance,  for 
any  one  of  several  studies  to  be  ranked  equally,  in  their 
connection.  The  point  is  that  there  is  such  a  fusion  of 
subject-matter  as  to  unify  into  a  common  whole. 

"  The  unification  of  subjects,"  says  Parker,  "  takes  for 
its  hypotheses,  first,  the  unity  of  the  human  being  in  de- 
sign ;  second,  the  unity  of  the  Creator  and  His  creations  ; 
and  third,  that  approximating  unity  of  the  human  being 
to  his  Creator  is  the  sublime  destiny  of  man.  '  For  He 
made  man  in  His  own  image.'  '  He  has  crowned  him 
with  glory  and  honor.'  Unity  of  body,  mind  and  soul, 
unity  of  educative  effort,  unity  of  action,  unity  of  thought, 
and  unity  of  thought  and  expression  are  the  aims  of  the 
theory  of  Concentration."  *  Here,  again  we  come  from 
the  unifying  thought,  considered  from  the  point  of 
view  of  its  genesis,  to  the  application  of  such  thought  in 
the  principle  of  concentration.  It  would  appear  that  the 
terms  are  really  subjective  and  objective  phases,  respec- 
tively, of  our  whole  educational  fabric. 

The  question  of  coordination  is  bound  up  in  that  of 
unity.  In  the  unifying  of  studies,  it  is  conceived  by 
some,  notably  by  Dr.  Harris,  that  there  are  certain  coor- 
dinate groups  of  studies,  as  mentioned  pre- 
Coordination  viously  under  correlation.  The  groups  may 

and  the  J  J 

Group  idea        number  five,  six,  or  seven,  according  as  this 
or   that    classification  appeals   to  the    indi- 
vidual.    But  being  coordinate  groups,  they  are  of  equal 

*  Talks  on  Pedagogics,  p.  26. 


no 


merit  one  with  another.  These  groups  have  certain 
common  features  and  can  be  brought  into  definite  rela- 
tionships, but  never  upon  the  basis  of  precedence  of  one 
group  over  another.  This,  of  course,  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  they  differ  in  their  genesis  and  in  their  very  nature. 
Herein  lies  the  chief  difference  between  coordination 
and  concentration. 

Again,  the  particular  subjects  going  to  make  up  a  coor- 

dinate group  may  within  themselves  have  a 

correlation        correlative  relationship.    If  history,  language, 

in  Coordi- 

nate Groups       and  art  are  contained  in  one  group,  language 

and  art  may,  for  the  time  being,  be  subordi- 
nated to  history  ;  that  is,  a  correlation  may  exist  among 
the  three  subjects.  There  can  be,  however,  nothing 
but  an  equal  relationship  existing  between  the  history 
group  and  that  formed  by  the  mathematical  studies. 
"  Complete  unification  is  the  blending  of  all  subjects 
and  branches  of  study  into  one  whole  and  the  teach- 
ing of  the  same  in  successive  sections."  "  When  this 
union  is  effected  by  making  one  group  or  branch  of 
study  in  the  course  the  center  or  core,  and  subordinating 
all  other  subjects  to  it,  the  process  is  properly  called  con- 
centration of  studies." 

The  unifying  idea  touches  so  closely  the  thought  of 
the  relative  value  of  studies  that  our  problem 
ls  complicated  at  this  point.  No  present  day 


and  Relative     educator  speaks  more  strongly  of  a  unified 

Values  .      .  _ 

curriculum  than  does  Dr.  John  Dewey,  but 
the  unity  is  coupled  with  the  relative  values  and  both  have 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION  in 

their  roots  in  the  thought  of  the  child  as  a  social  being. 
I  shall  quote  from  Dr.  Dewey  to  illuminate  still  further 
this  unification  principle  and  also  to  point  to  the  social 
basis  of  correlation.  In  his  Ethical  Principles  Underlying 
Education  he  says  :  "  A  casual  glance  at  pedagogical  lit- 
erature will  show  that  we  are  much  in  need  of  an  ultimate 
criterion  for  the  values  of  studies,  and  for  deciding  what 
is  meant  by  content  value  and  by  form  value.  At  pres- 
ent we  are  apt  to  have  two,  three,  or  even  four  different 
standards  set  up  by  which  different  values  as  disciplinary, 
culture,  and  information  values  are  measured."*  "  There 
is  no  conception  of  any  unifying  principle.  The  point 
here  made  is  that  the  extent  and  way  in  which  a  study 
brings  the  pupil  to  consciousness  of  his  social  environ- 
ment, and  confers  upon  him  the  ability  to  interpret  his 
own  powers  from  the  standpoint  of  their  possibilities  in 
social  use,  is  this  ultimate  and  unified  standard."  f 

There  is  nothing  within  the  facts  themselves,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Dewey,  to  determine  that  they  shall  be  classed 
as  history,  science,  literature  and  the  like.  All  subjects 
have  the  same  office,  namely,  "  the  conscious  experience 
of  man." 

"  It  is  only  because  we  have  different  interests  or  dif- 
ferent ends,  that  we  sort  out  the  material  and  label  part 
of  it  science,  part  history,  part  geography,  and  so  on. 
Each  of  these  subjects  represent  an  arrangement  of 

*  Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education,  p.  18. 
''(Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education,  p.  1 8.     Quoted  on  p.  27, 
this  volume. 


112  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

materials  with  reference  to  some  one  dominant  or  typical 

aim  or  process  of  the  social  life."  * 

Present  methods  of  school  work  give  an  entirely  wrong 
idea  of  the  relation  of  studies  to  each  other. 
The  unity  existmg  in  the  various  divisions  of 
geography,  is  due,  not  to  some  external  fact, 

vidu&l 

but  rather  to  an  intrinsic,  vital  principle,  an 
"attitude  of  interest  in  the  human  mind  toward  them." 

All  this  does  not  mean  that  the  various  school  studies 
must  be  unified  and  correlated  at  every  point.  It  indi- 
cates simply  the  value  and  necessity  for  so  doing  where 
the  proper  conditions  exist,  the  philosophy  for  such  pro- 
cedure being  found  in  the  life,  the  activities,  the  social 
phases,  the  very  nature  of  the  child  himself.  "  We  should 
not  seek  to  make  a  correlation  where  none  exists,"  says 
Mr.  James  Chamberlain.  A  forced  unity  is  not  unity 
at  all. 

And  right  here  is  where  the  teacher,  anxious  to  be 

abreast  of  the  times,  desirous  of  doing  for  his 

Dangers  and     pupiis  the  best  possible  service, — here  it  is 

Opportuni- 
ties that  the  teacher  so  often  makes  a  mistake. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  subjects 
cannot  be  correlated  simply  by  trying  to  teach  several 
of  them  at  one  and  the  same  time.  Results  under  these 
conditions  are  simply  absolute  failures.  When  on  the 
other  hand  the  subject-matter  is  so  closely  classified  as 
to  permit  the  form  only  of  any  given  study  to  be  taught, 
the  work  is  narrow  and  barren. 

*  Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education,  p.  19. 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION  113 

In  the  grades  where  a  teacher  must  instruct  in  several 
subjects,  there  is  much  greater  opportunity  for  correlation 
than  exists  in  the  upper  school  where  departmental  work 
is  carried  on  and  a  specialist  is  responsible  for  each  par- 
ticular subject.  If  the  mathematics  teacher  looks  only  to 
the  form  of  his  work,  if  mathematical  data  are  the  Alpha 
and  Omega  of  his  teaching,  he  may  have  a  class  well 
drilled  in  mathematics ;  but  if  he  fails  to  demand  a  high 
standard  of  excellence  when  the  pupil  is  called  upon  to 
express  himself,  if  he  receives  written  papers  and  exercises 
careless  in  execution  and  bristling  with  incorrect  forms, 
if  the  papers  give  evidence  of  careless  or  slovenly  work,  if 
he  permits  this  simply  because  the  answer  is  there,  and 
his  is  not  the  English  or  the  Ethics  class,  he  is  missing 
one  of  the  best  opportunities  the  school  affords  for  teach- 
ing the  relation  of  studies,  one  to  another,  and  of  show- 
ing the  practical  application  of  the  language  arts  to  other 
subjects. 

In  the  cooking  room  we  find  too  frequently  no  correla- 
tion of  science  with  the  actual  mechanical  process  in- 
volved ;  we  find  cooking  only,  not  domestic  science.  Here 
the  student  should  learn  not  simply  to  prepare  the  food 
properly,  for  this  can  be  learned  frequently  at  home.  She 
should  learn  something  of  the  chemistry  of  foods,  the 
composition  of  the  raw  materials,  the  physiology  of  diges- 
tion, the  effect  upon  the  body  of  certain  foods.  And  a 
score  of  other  lessons  should  be  taught  along  with  that 
of  how  to  prepare  properly  a  given  dish. 

These  are  only  illustrations  of  the  broad  truth  and 

Standards — 8 


H4  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

serve  to  show  that  so-called  correlation  is  the  only  logi- 
cal, natural  method.  It  is  not  desirable,  however,  nor 
would  the  process  be  one  of  correlation,  if  matter  not 
germane  be  dragged  in  and  forced  to  a  place  in  the  study 
being  pursued.  If  this  were  done,  we  should  not  sim- 
plify, but  only  obscure  from  the  pupil,  the  lesson  or  task. 

The  philosophy  of  correlation  and  unification  of  studies 
is  therefore  seen  to  lie  in  the  social  side  of  the  child's 
life,  and  the  necessity  for  such  unity  exists  to-day  as 
never  before.  The  spirit  is  spreading,  industrialism  is 
vastly  more  far-reaching  than  formerly,  competition  is 
keener,  specialization  is  the  order  of  the  day,  and  the  ap- 
plication of  the  arts  and  sciences  to  the  affairs  of  every- 
day life  is  extremely  differentiated. 

In  the  early  days  the  school  taught  the  so-called  fun- 
damentals. A  good  general  knowledge  of 
conditions  a  arithmetic,  the  ability  to  express  one's  self  in 
strong  AT-  speech  and  with  the  pen  in  a  passable  man- 

gument  for  .          ....  .  .        ,  ,    ,       .,  , 

Correlation  ner>  the  skill  to  write  clearly  and  legibly,  a 
general  understanding  of  the  geography  of 
the  earth,  and  the  possession  of  a  few  of  the  more  im- 
portant historical  facts, — these  were  the  essentials  of 
school  education.  In  those  days  there  was  less  necessity 
for  the  unifying  of  the  curriculum  than  there  is  now. 
With  the  increase  of  subjects  and  the  marked  tendency 
to  overcrowd  and  to  make  shallow,  every  effort  must  be 
sought  to  simplify  and  unify.  In  the  evolution  of  society, 
children  are  taken  out  of  touch  with  things  and  people. 
They  should  have  brought  to  them  in  this  particular  the 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION  115 

opportunities  possessed  by  the  children  of  a  half-century 
ago.  Society,  properly  considered,  sets  the  standards  for 
social  existence.  The  child  himself  is  the  center  ;  all  true 
study  has  a  moral  basis,  and  is  concerned  with  the  mani- 
festation of  Divine  thought  in  the  universe  and  in  man. 
The  child,  to  come  to  a  realization  of  self,  must  see 
and  appreciate  the  relation  of  the  various  school  subjects 
one  to  another.  He  must  see  also  the  relation  of  school 
to  home,  and  be  able  to  connect  the  whole  with  the  great 
throbbing,  pulsating  life  about  him.  The  realization  of 
this  condition  will  be  reached  through  the  proper  social- 
izing or  unifying  of  the  curriculum. 

THESES 

1.  The  terms  correlation,  concentration,  etc.,  must  not 
be  used  in  the  abstract,  else  vague  concepts  result. 

2.  Herbart  considered  school  work  too  scattered,  and 
advocated  a  uniform  course. 

3.  Two  theories — (a)  the  group  idea,  and  (b)  the  indi- 
vidual subject,  as  centers. 

4.  The  child  is  the  real  center ;  the  humanistic  rather 
than  the  formal  studies  should  be  given  the  chief  emphasis. 

5.  Concentration  is  more  fundamental  than  correlation  ; 
unification  used  by  Doctor  White  in  sense  of  correla- 
tion; Parker's  thought  that  unity  is  the  aim  of  concentra- 
tion. 

6.  A  unified  course  means  coordinate  groups  of  stud- 
ies and  correlation  may  exist  between  the  various  coor- 
dinate groups. 


Ii6  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

7.  The   relative   value  of   studies    is  closely  related 
to  unification  and  both  relate  to  the  child  as  a  social 
being. 

8.  The  individual  furnishes  the  cause  for,  and  aim  in, 
correlation,  and  our  present  day  conditions,  social,  indus- 
trial and  otherwise,  demand  a  unifying  of  the  curriculum. 

TOPICS    FOR    STUDY 

1.  What  school  studies  lend  themselves  most  readily 
to  correlation  ? 

2.  Is  it  possible  to  get  the  most  from  the  study  of  a 
subject,  unless  it  is  pursued  distinctly  as  a  subject   in 
itself  ? 

3.  Is  the  correlation  idea  successfully  carried  out  in 
the  elementary  school  of  to-day  ? 

4.  Can  time  be  saved  by  bringing  two  or  more  sub- 
jects together  for  study  ? 

5.  If  the  child  is  the  real  center,  how  may  we  deter- 
mine whether  teacher,  child,  or  subject-matter  shall  point 
to  the  method  of  correlation  at  any  given  time  ? 

6.  When  arithmetic  or  science  is  the  subject  to  be 
taught,  and  hand  work  is  to  be  correlated,  what  large 
questions  must  the  teacher  determine  in  laying  out  the 
work  ? 

7.  The  value  of  concentration  to  the  business  or  pro- 
fessional man. 

8.  Outline  a  lesson  in  United  States  history,  on  the 
origin  and  work  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  with  no 
consideration  for  the  correlative  principle. 


THE  MEANING  OF  CORRELATION 


117 


9.  What  should  furnish  the  basis  for  determining  the 
relative  value  of  studies  ?    Would  this  standard  be  the 
same  for  every  individual  ? 

10.  Does  society  consider  the  facts  of  everyday  life 
in  an  associated  sense,  or  separately  ?     Are  the  associa- 
tions made  after  individual  study,  or  vice  versa  ? 

CONSULT 

DEWEY          Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education. 

School  and  Society. 

GORDY  A  Broader  Elementary  Education,  chap.  17. 

HARRIS          Psychologic  Foundations. 
HERBART       Science  of  Education,  p.  123. 
HANUS  Educational     Aims    and    Educational    Values, 

chap.  i. 

PARKER         Talks  on  Pedagogics. 
McMuRRY     Elements  of  General  Method,  p.  98. 
WHITE  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education,  1895-96, 

p.  29. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING 

PERHAPS  no  question  has  been  more  fully  discussed 
in  the  educational  world  during  the  past  few  years  than 
that  of  the  moral  training  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the 
school  to  impart.  The  matter  has  been  taken  up  by 
those  representing  all  fields  of  educational  activity,  and 
press  and  platform  have  agitated,  at  least,  even  though 
they  have  not  settled  the  question. 

As  the  thought  of  the  value  and  the  purpose  of  educa- 
tion has  grown  and  expanded,  it  has  become  more  and 
more  apparent  that  moral  training  should  hold  a  broader 
and  more  permanent  place  in  any  plan  or  scheme  of  school 
instruction,  than  it  has  done  in  the  past.  With  the  rapid 
commercial  and  industrial  growth  in  our  own  country, 
a  growth  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  forty  centuries, 
with  increased  mental  requirements  and  with  the  broad- 
ening and  deepening  of  our  social  obligations,  there 
comes  also,  as  a  logical  result  of  our  many- 
Necessity  sided  development,  an  increased  demand  for 

for  Moral  \ 

Training          finer    ethical    sensibilities,    a    necessity    for 
higher  standards  in  the  moral  tone  of  indi- 
vidual and  community,  a  thoroughly  appreciated  need 
for  clean,  honest,  respectful,  right-minded,  reverent  boys 

1x8 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING  119 

and  girls;  for  tolerant,  straightforward,  fearless  men  and 
women.  Never,  I  say,  has  the  necessity  for  this  been  so 
apparent  as  now,  when  minds  are  absorbed  by  the  am- 
bition to  become  possessed  of  material  wealth,  when  the 
struggle  for  industrial  supremacy  takes  the  not  always 
imaginative  shape  of  a  hand  to  hand  encounter,  when,  in 
the  hurry  and  jostle  of  the  never  ceasing  onward  march 
of  civilization,  man  is  likely  to  forget  the  common  courte- 
sies and  civilities  he  owes  his  brother  and  which  it  is  his 
duty  and  privilege  to  observe.  The  possibilities  for  ad- 
vancement both  from  the  mental  and  from  the  material 
side,  the  freedom  for  thought  and  expression  in  the  po- 
litical arena  and  in  the  religious  world,  the  chances  open 
for  the  poorest,  least  opportunitied  boy  to  become  the 
master  of  millions  or  the  leader  of  a  people,  these  con- 
ditions, while  giving  to  us  the  sturdiest  of  nations  and  the 
most  strenuous  men  and  women,  tend  too  often  to  pro- 
duce citizens  less  mindful  of  the  rights  of  others,  less 
careful  of  giving  the  harsh  word  or  of  bestowing  the  un- 
kindly act,  less  considerate  for  their  fellows  than  for 
themselves,  less  sensitive  to  loyalty  to  high  ideals  and 
observance  of  moral  virtues  than  could  be  desired. 

And  while  this  is  true,  no  one,  more  than  the  teacher, 

appreciates  to  the  full  this  too  frequent  lack 

The  school       on  f-he  part  Of  the  boy  or  girl.     Aside  from 

should  Teach  J 

Morals  the  home  influences,  nowhere  can  right  les- 

sons be  taught  so  well  as  in  the  school. 
Here  the  intercourse  of  pupil  with  pupil  reflects  in  small 
the  great  throbbing,  pulsating  world  without.  Here  the 


120  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

boy  has  duties  and  obligations;  he  meets  others  in  friendly 
rivalry  or  in  honest  cooperation;  he  must  be  serious  and 
sad,  happy  and  cheerful;  he  is  to  give  and  take,  to  ask 
and  receive,  to  compete  and  assist,  to  accept  and  reject;  he 
must  create  and  destroy,  analyze  and  compare,  investigate 
and  decide,  learn  and  unlearn,  and  everywhere  and  always, 
in  school  and  out,  unless  all  that  is  learned,  unless  all 
that  the  boy  becomes  is  based  upon  a  sound  appreciation 
of  ethical  and  moral  life  and  responsibility,  the  real  work 
of  the  school  is  not  accomplished,  and  failure,  not  success, 
is  the  reward  of  the  individual  and  the  achievement  of 
education.  A  study  of  the  history  of  education  shows 
that  with  early  peoples,  and  folio  whig  down  even  to  our 
own  time,  what  moral  instruction  was  given  had  a  special 
place  in  the  program  of  the  school.  Among  certain 
peoples  this  instruction  was  purely  religious,  as  in  Israel, 
and  comprehended  in  fact  the  education  of  the  day.  At 
other  times  and  in  other  places  where  moral  and  religious 
training  received  less  attention,  they  were,  however, 
taught  as  subjects  in  themselves,  without  regard  to  their 
connection  with  other  school  subjects,  or  with  the  actual 
life  of  the  pupil. 

In  trying  to  determine   the   place   moral  instruction 
should  occupy  in  the  school,  we  must  again 
return  to  the  question:  For  what  does  the 
school  stand?     What  is  education?     Since 
we  have  already  determined  that  education  is  actual,  not 
seeming,  participation  in  life,  that  it  keeps  continually  be- 
fore the  mind  the  thought  of  mutual  helpfulness  and 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING  121 

mutual  sympathy,  that  it  deals  with  dynamic,  not  static, 
forces,  then  we  must  see,  if  this  indeed  be  education,  that 
there  is  a  deep  and  vital  connection  between  intellectual 
and  moral  training,  and  that  the  latter  is  at  the  base  of 
any  true  and  sufficient  system  of  school  instruction. 

This  question  then  presents  itself:  How  shall  we  pro- 
ceed that  we  may  bring  about  the  proper 
balance  of  results  in  the  moral  and  ethical 
life  of  the  pupil?  Can  this  best  be  done  by 
setting  aside  a  special  time  and  place  in  school  work  for 
such  teaching,  that  is,  by  so  arranging  the  program  that 
a  study  of  morals  will  find  an  intrinsic  place  in  the  cur- 
riculum ?  Let  us  examine  the  question. 

This  plan  has  been  and  is  being  thoroughly  tried.  It 
can  no  longer  be  called  an  experiment.  In  parochial 
schools  and  in  many  private  institutions  in  our  country 
and  quite  commonly  in  the  schools  of  England  and  the 
continent,  moral  instruction,  under  one  or  another  name, 
is  included  as  a  regular  branch  of  study.  No  doubt  much 
good  is  accomplished  in  this  way,  but  the  results  are  any- 
thing but  satisfactory.  The  query  as  to  whether  a  better 
plan  cannot  be  proposed  finds  answer,  I  believe,  in  the 
native  good  sense  of  the  vast  number  of  teachers  as  well 
as  in  the  results  as  shown  here  and  there. 

The  school  courses  should  be  so  constructed  as  to  place 
the  desired  principle  in  the  very  foundation  of  all  work. 
While  each  lesson  shall  be  a  lesson  in  truth,  in  morals, 
the  process  is,  so  far  as  the  pupil  is  concerned,  an  uncon- 
scious one.  He  need  not  be  told  at  the  close  of  each  reci- 


122  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

tation  that  this  or  that  moral  point  should  be  carried  away, 
as  was  formerly  the  case  when,  in  a  given  lesson,  the  moral 
had  to  be  "drawn"  at  its  close.  Where  the  mind  is  re- 
quired to  dwell  for  a  considerable  period  upon  the  re- 
sults of  wrongdoing,  or  upon  the  rewards  and  prizes 
achieved  from  the  observance  of  the  right,  the  imma- 
ture student  is  too  prone  to  treat  the  whole  matter  as 
"preaching,"  and  to  think  less  seriously  than  he  otherwise 
would. 

Good  books  have  been  prepared  and  excellent  sugges- 
tions made  for  the  training  of  the  ethical  self  in  this 
formal  manner,  but  book  instruction  here,  as  in  some 
other  fields  of  education,  seems  not  to  have  accomplished 
its  purpose.  The  idea  has  somehow  been  held  that  the 
ethical  life  is  something  apart  from  the  workaday  ex- 
istence of  men,  that  character  and  morals  appear  in  the 
abstract,  that  their  more  subtle  development  is  carried  on, 
not  in  connection  with,  but  aside  from,  that  of  the  mental 
and  physical  life. 

In  this  sense  character  is  conceived  as  a  veneer.  Karl 
Schmitz  says:  "The  proof  of  any  method  or 
not  system  is  found  in  the  character  of  the  people 


Apart  from,      using  it."    Character  is  developed  in  the  be- 

Everyday  .       .  i 

Life  ginning,    not    so    much    through    conscious 

effort  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  as  in  following 

day  by  day,  the  good  example  set  by  teacher  and  associate. 

"Scarcely  any  connection  exists,"  says  Spencer,  "be- 

tween morality  and  the  discipline  of  ordinary  teaching. 

Mere  culture  of  the  intellect  (and  education  as  usually 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING  123 

conducted  amounts  to  little  more)  is  hardly  at  all  opera- 
tive upon  conduct.  Creeds  pasted  upon  the  mind,  good 
principles  learnt  by  rote,  lessons  in  right  and  wrong,  will 
not  eradicate  vicious  propensities;  though  people  in  spite 
of  their  experience  as  parents  and  citizens,  persist  in 
hoping  they  will."  * 

Moral  and  ethical  training,  viewed  in  the  light  of  what 
has  already  been  said,  assumes  a  vastly  different  aspect 
than  that  usually  pertaining  to  it.  Looking  therefore 
toward  the  desired  end,  and  keeping  in  mind  the  conclu- 
sions already  drawn,  the  following  argument  is  offered, — 
an  argument  not  frequently  used  in  this  connection. 

The  moral  training  of  the  pupil  cannot  be  brought 
about  without  a  thorough  regard  for  discipline;  it  is  not 
possible  to  obtain  discipline  without  attention,  and  the 
latter  in  turn  cannot  be  had  unless  there  is  a  deep  and 
satisfying  interest  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  in  the  subject 
in  hand. 

(a)  INTEREST 

Ideas  are  many  and  varied  regarding  the  part  played 
by  interest  in  education.  The  Herbartian  conception  of 
the  nature  of  interest  differs  widely  from  that  of  many. 
Herbart  asserts  that  interest  is  not  of  a  secondary  nature, 
but  fundamental.  It  is  not  hi  the  service  of  instruction. 
We  do  not  have  an  interest  in  order  that  we  may  learn; 
we  learn  that  an  interest  may  be  excited.  With  Herbart, 
interest  comes  after,  not  before  instruction.  An  interest 

*  Social  Statics,  National  Education,  p.  1 73. 


124  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

not  only  in  the  school,  but  one  that  shall  carry  over  into 
all  the  work  of  later  life  is  the  aim  of  the  school;  and  this 
interest  is  gained  through  instruction. 

Another  view  of  the  nature  of  interest  places  it  as  a 
fundamental.  Interest  is  basic.  Given  the  proper  con- 
ditions, environment,  and  subject-matter,  the  pupil  will 
become  interested.  Once  interest  is  excited,  the  mind  is 
in  a  condition  to  receive  instruction. 

Whatever  views  we  may  as  individuals  hold  regarding 
the  precedence  of  interest,  we  must  all  admit  its  value. 
Many  sided  interest  should  be  aimed  at, — an  interest 
that  shall  cover  not  only  one  phase  of  the  subject,  but 
such  as  shall  be  broad  in  its  scope.  This  means  at  the 
very  beginning  the  study  of  concrete  things,  rather  than 
the  presentation  of  pure  or  abstract  problems. 
Abstr«t°r  The  dead  materials  of  the  text-book  alone 
are  not  sufficient.  Doctor  William  T.  Har- 
ris in  the  Report  of  the  Committee  oj  Fifteen  says:  "The 
printed  page  is  the  chief  means  by  which  the  pupil  shall 
add  to  his  own  observation  and  reflection  what  has  been 
observed  and  thought  by  men  especially  gifted  in  these 
things.  The  pupil  shall  learn  by  mastering  the  text-book 
how  to  master  all  books,  how  to  use  that  greatest  of  in- 
struments of  culture,  the  library.  In  the  presence  of  the 
book  he  can  take  the  sentences,  one  by  one,  and  reflect 
carefully  upon  the  meaning  of  each  word  and  each  sen- 
tence." 

These  statements  may  be  true  regarding  comparatively 
mature  minds,  they  may  hold  with  some  degree  of  exact- 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING  125 

ness  in  the  adult  world,  but  Doctor  Harris  has  outlined 
an  ideal  condition.  Before  the  child  can  run,  he  must 
learn  to  walk.  Before  he  can  fully  appreciate  and  master 
the  printed  page  and  ponder  wisely  upon  the 
meaning  of  each  word  and  each  sentence, 
he  must  first  be  interested  in  those  things  for 
which  the  words  of  the  printed  page  are  but  symbols. 
With  an  interest  firmly  established,  the  pupil  may  go  for- 
ward to  more  abstruse  ideas  and  conceptions. 

The  child  is  interested  naturally  hi  that  which  makes 
for  his  welfare,  hi  his  food,  shelter,  clothing,  playmates. 
He  is  interested  hi  his  surroundings,  in  those  portions  of 
his  environment  that  touch  and  affect  him  at  his  work 
and  play.  Until  the  child  goes  to  school,  he  is  intensely 
interested  in  the  great  world  of  nature.  The  situations  are 
real;  the  man,  the  animals,  the  rocks,  the  fields  and  the 
trees,  water  and  sunshine,  marbles  and  leapfrog,  the  swim- 
ming hole  and  the  toboggan  slide, — to  the  child  all  these 
are  actual.  He  finds  a  use  for  each  and,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  appropriates  all  of  them  to  his  own  advantage. 
He  sells  papers  upon  the  street  and  makes  the  correct 
change,  although  he  has  never  been  taught  the  principles 
underlying  the  fundamental  operations  or  struggled  with 
fractions.  He  performs  the  operations  without  even  ask- 
ing himself  the  reason  for  the  fact,  or  tracing  hi  logical 
order  each  step  in  the  operation.  He  plays  marbles  "for 
keeps,"  and  the  necessary  mathematical  processes  are 
carried  on  without  any  wrenching  of  the  mathematical 
laws.  He  wishes  to  construct  a  pool  sufficiently  deep  and 


126  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

wide  to  sail  his  boat.  He  scrapes  out  the  soil  and  throws 
a  dam  across  the  stream.  In  all  these  undertakings  he  is 
interested.  How  different,  however,  when  he  takes  him- 
self to  school!  Shakespeare  pictures  it  thus: 
Eeaisitua-  "The  whining  school  boy  with  his  satchel, 

tions  Differ-  .     ,  .    .  ,  •        11  -i 

ent  from          and  shining  morning  face,  creeping  like  snail 


unwillingly  to  school."  Here  is  the  atmos- 
phere likely  to  be  artificial.  He  must  learn 
that  three  and  four  are  seven.  No  natural  desire  springs 
up  within  him  for  this  knowledge.  Not  only  must  he 
learn  that  three  and  four  are  seven,  but  he  must  know  why 
this  is  so,  just  as  Dodd  was  expected  to  tell  what  it  meant 
to  "lean  agin  a  tree."  *  No  matter  if  he  should  discover 
a  short  cut  or  simplified  method  of  reaching  the  answer, 
he  must  still  trace  the  never  ending  sequence  in  the  steps 
that  have  been  so  carefully  thought  out  for  him. 

In  these  things  he  is  likely  to  find  little  to  attract,  and 
here  lies  the  suggestion  as  to  the  child's  natural  interests. 
See  that  the  proper  environment  for  growth  is  furnished 
and  lead  the  child  to  grapple  with  it.  Not  necessarily 
something  easy;  on  the  contrary,  it  maybe  difficult  indeed. 
In  the  beginning,  let  the  situations  be  real;  the  needs, 
actual,  not  fancied  ;  the  desires,  healthy. 

Do  not  understand  me  to  say  that  nothing  to  which 
he  is  not  at  once  attracted  can  be  learned  by  the  pupil. 
Lessons  may  be  learned,  but  are  not  so  readily  under- 
stood or  retained  in  memory.  The  mind  of  the  child  is 
not  likely  to  work  so  understandingly  without  interest  as 

*  William  Hawley  Smith  :  Evolution  of  Dodd. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING  127 

with  it;  and  unless  there  is  a  clear  understanding,  the  im- 
ages, if  they  do  not  entirely  fade  from  the  mind,  will  be 
dim  or  uncertain  at  best. 

It  is  insisted  by  some  that  the  child  should  be  led  to 
do,  from  time  to  time,  those  things  in  which 
^e  mav  not  ^  mtercsted,  or  in  which  he 


study  of  the      may  think  he  has  no  interest.     While  it  is 

Uninterest-  11- 

ing  the  unusual  that  is  sometimes  necessary  to 

catch  the  eye,  it  is  a  mistake  to  continue  to 
resort  to  the  unusual.  In  the  everyday  walks  of  life  the 
individual  has  to  do  with  everyday  things;  hence,  say 
they,  he  must  learn  to  be  content  with  the  monotony  of 
the  common  place.  This  he  can  best  learn  to  do  by 
drilling  while  in  school,  upon  what  may  at  the  time  seem 
dull  and  uninteresting.  These  school  men  further  as- 
sert that  if,  as  some  believe,  the  school  is,  or  should  be,  a 
model  society  where  children  are  trained  for  life,  or  where 
life  in  its  many  forms  actually  exists,  then  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  pupils  should  be  trained  to  do  tasks  hi  the 
same  way,  or  after  the  same  manner  or  pattern  as  that 
followed  by  their  elders.  When  the  pupils  take  then- 
places  in  the  grown  up  world,  they  will  find  constantly 
that  their  own  good  and  the  good  of  society  demands 
that  tasks  be  performed  by  them,  tasks  in  which  they 
have  no  considerable  degree  of  interest.  Never  to  deviate 
from  the  principle  that  the  child  may  do  those  things 
and  those  only  in  which  he  thinks  himself  interested,  is 
to  do  him  an  injustice.  Hence,  they  conclude,  he  grows 
selfish,  narrow  and  conceited.  He  may  finally  lose  con- 


128  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

fidence  in  himself  and  in  his  teacher,  and  come  into  dis- 
honest habits. 

A  rational  view  of  the  subject  of  interest  is  taken  by 
Professor  James  when  he  says:  "We  have  of  late  been 
learning  much  of  the  philosophy  of  tenderness  in  educa- 
tion; 'interest'  must  be  assiduously  awakened  in  every- 
thing, difficulties  must  be  smoothed  away.  Soft  peda- 
gogics have  taken  the  place  of  the  old  steep  and  rocky 
paths  to  learning.  But  from  this  lukewarm  air  the  brac- 
ing oxygen  of  effort  is  left  out.  It  is  nonsense  to  suppose 
that  every  step  in  education  can  be  interesting.  The 
fighting  impulse  must  often  be  appealed  to.  Make  the 
pupil  feel  ashamed  of  being  scared  at  fractions,  or  being 
'downed'  by  the  law  of  falling  bodies;  rouse  his  pugnacity 
and  pride  and  he  will  rush  at  difficult  places  with  a  sort 
of  inner  wrath  at  himself  that  is  one  of  his  best  moral 
faculties.  A  victory  scored  under  such  conditions  becomes 
a  turning-point  and  crisis  of  his  character."  * 

Many  insist  that  the  play  spirit  is  entirely  too  common 

to-day  in  education.    The  claim  is  made  that 

TheEasy          m  orc|er  to  interest  our  pupils  more  readily, 

Task  not  4    *  ' 

Necessarily       we  are  making  play  of  all  the  more  serious 

ing  one*6        duties  of  the  school.    If  this  be  true,  and  I 

doubt  not  it  may  be  in  some  quarters,  no 

sympathy  is  expressed  here  for  such  existing  condition. 

To  interest  the  pupil  does  not  at  all  mean  that  tasks  are 

to  be  made  simple  and  easy. 

True  interest,  however,  where  the  child  mind  is  con- 

*  Talks  to  Teachers,  pp.  54-55. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING 


cerned,  does  not  lie  in  the  direction  of  the  hidden  mean- 
ing, the  abstract  symbol,  the  artificial  catch  word;  it  finds 
its  source  in  things  at  hand,  in  the  facts  and  forces  of 
the  environment  which  can  be  used,  appropriated,  and 
modified  to  serve  useful  ends;  in  the  circumstances,  the 
people,  the  events,  the  materials  which  find  a  response  in 
the  life  of  the  individual,  and  which  hi  turn  help  the  in- 
dividual to  find  himself.  This  does  not  mean 


The  Teacher        fa^  we   must   rely  wholly   upon   the   child   to 
is  not 

ignored  determine  his  actual  interests.     He  is  to  be 

carefully  watched  and  guarded,  the  lines  of 
his  dominant  interests  must  be  studied,  and  in  turn  di- 
rected, as  seems  for  his  best  development.  From  time  to 
time  these  dominant  interests  change  and  these  changes 
the  teacher  must  carefully  note  and  study,  for  through 
them  will  he  be  enabled  to  approach  close  to  the  child, 
to  gain  his  confidence,  learn  his  likes  and  dislikes,  his 
strengths  and  weaknesses,  his  traits  of  char- 
acter;  through  them  he  must  help  him  to 


interest  the      learn  how  to  overcome  acquired  evil  tend- 

Teacher's  .  ,  .  e   it 

Auy  encies,  to  counteract  wrong  teaching  of  the 

home  or  street,  or  to  supplement  the  benefi- 
cial home  training.  By  study  and  understanding  and  by 
allowing  for  the  pupil's  interests,  we  have  one  of  the  best 
avenues  open  for  moral  training.  By  ignoring  this  fact 
we  drive  from  school  many  who  would  otherwise  remain. 

(&)  ATTENTION 

The  second  point  to  be  noted  is  that  of  attention.    At- 

Standards  —  9 


130  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

tention  may  be  discussed  under  a  variety  of  forms  and  in 
a  varied  terminology.  For  our  purpose,  however,  only 
two  forms  may  be  noted:  voluntary  attention,  or  that 
form  gained  through  an  effort  of  the  will,  and  involuntary 
attention,  or  that  gained  through  little  or  no  will  action. 
These  two  types  would  conform  to  the  effort  vs.  the  in- 
terest  phases  as  discussed  by  Doctor  Dewey.  With  a 
many-sided  interest  in  any  lesson  or  task,  comes  a  spon- 
taneous or  involuntary  form  of  attention.  The  untrained 
mind  of  the  child  is  not  sufficiently  strong  to  give  attention 
through  the  centering  of  the  will.  The  study  matter  must 
be  so  arranged  as  to  claim  the  attention  without  excessive 
volition  or  will  power. 

The  close  relation  that  interest  bears  to  involuntary, 
or  spontaneous,  attention  is  at  once  under- 

maybegtven      stood-     A11  those  who  have  to  do  with  children 

without  know  how  necessary  it  is  that  the  attention 

Effort 

be  directed  to  the  subject  or  lesson,  if  results 
are  to  be  achieved.  They  know,  too,  how  difficult  it  is 
to  secure  for  more  than  a  short  period  at  most,  the  close, 
undivided  attention  of  the  pupil,  and  that  the  more  im- 
mature the  pupil  the  greater  the  necessity  that  his  interest 
be  awakened,  in  order  to  claim  better  the  attention.  Let 
the  teacher  note  how  spontaneous  and  natural  is  the  at- 
tention of  the  pupil  while  at  play.  In  his  games,  no  ar- 
tificial means  are  necessary  to  concentrate  the  attention. 
In  the  various  activities,  in  building  up  and  in  tearing 
down,  in  carrying  on  in  small  the  occupations  of  the  real 
life  about  him,  in  these  the  child  has  complete  interest. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          131 

When,  however,  the  teacher  finds  she  must  call  upon  the 
class  to  attend,  when  she  must  beg  and  entreat,  threaten 
and  command,  then  must  the  fault  lie  without,  not  within 
the  pupil,  and  then  will  the  attention,  given  under  such 
circumstances,  be  superficial  rather  than  actual. 

Here  the  course  of  study  steps  hi  to  play  its  part.  Our 
chief  concern  must  be  so  to  shape  the  work  that  it  shall 
appeal  to  the  individual  mind.  The  danger  lies  hi  two 
directions.  The  work  must  not  be  over  difficult,  else  the 
pupil,  unable  to  grasp  and  comprehend,  will  find  no  mag- 
net to  draw  the  attention.  Neither  must  the  lessons  be 
so  simple  as  to  call  for  no  mental  reaction,  for  then  will 
there  appear  no  necessity  for  attention.  At  this  point  the 
principle  of  apperception  comes  to  our  aid,  for  with  a 
previous  knowledge  of  some  or  all  of  the  points  involved, 
the  mind  at  once  reaches  out,  —  attends.  The  known  in 
the  old  seeks  to  lay  hold  of  the  knowable  in  the  new; 
likenesses  and  differences  are  noted  and  the  pupil  has  won 
the  battle  for  himself. 

It  is  not  claimed  by  all,  however,  that  this  form  of  at- 
tention is  the  highest  in  the  scale  of  mental  development, 
and  it  should  only  be  used,  they  affirm,  as  a  stepping-stone 
to  the  deeper  and  more  vital  form  of  volun- 
tarY  attention.  The  purpose  should  be  so 


thevoiun-  to  train  the  mind  that  unconsciously  the  will 
is  more  and  more  brought  into  play;  otherwise, 
the  mental  machinery  becomes  as  flabby  as  an  unused 
muscle  and  the  entire  mind  attitude  will  be  a  succession 
of  indecisions. 


132  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

An  excellent  illustration  of  this  view  is  given  in  Mr. 
Westcott's  David  Harum,  where  Mr.  Carling,  having 
found  to  his  dismay  that  he  has  dressed  with  one  russet 
shoe  and  one  black  one,  proceeds  to  argue  the  question. 
"First  he  was  in  favor  of  the  black  shoes  as  being  thicker 
in  the  sole,  and  then  he  reflected  that  they  hadn't  been 
blackened  since  coming  on  board.  It  seemed  to  him  that 
the  russets  were  more  appropriate  any  way,  but  the  blacks 
were  easier  to  lace.  Had  I  noticed  whether  the  men  on 
board  were  wearing  russet  or  black,  as  a  rule,  and  did 
Alice  remember  whether  it  was  one  of  the  russets  or  one 
of  the  blacks  that  he  was  saying  the  other  day  pinched  his 
toe?  He  didn't  quite  like  the  looks  of  the  russet  shoe 
with  dark  trousers,  and  called  us  to  witness  that  those 
he  had  on  were  dark;  but  he  thought  he  remembered 
that  it  was  the  black  shoe  which  pinched  him.  He  sup- 
posed he  could  change  his  trousers  and  so  on,  and  so  on." 

There  is  one  danger,  too,  of  exacting  the  attention 
when,  with  the  young  pupils,  the  subject 
or  metn°cl  of  presentation  is  beyond  them,  or 


instability        uninteresting.     A  habit  of  desultory  oscilla- 

of  Mind  J 

Attitude  tion,  of  wavering  backward  and  forward,  a 

dreamy,  half-hearted  attention  is  encouraged, 
and  thus  makes  more  difficult  the  securing  of  the  volun- 
tary form.  In  other  words,  the  teacher  should  train,  de- 
velop, and  educate  into  the  latter.  Voluntary  attention 
suggests  at  once  the  idea  of  concentration.  Much  has 
been  written  upon  the  importance  of  concentration  to 
the  learner,  yet  the  last  word  has  not  been  said.  Prop- 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          133 

eriy  to  attend,  the  mind  must  be  directed  toward,  and 
tied  fast  to,  the  object,  the  thing,  the  lesson.  The  wander- 
ing mind  becomes  a  vagabond.  If  the  work  is  not  such 
as  to  compel  the  mind  to  concentrate,  to  give  attention, 
then  it  becomes  sluggish  and  lazy.  To  be  voluntarily 
alive  leads  to  alertness,  to  spontaneity  and  development. 
Then  not  only  are  positive  lessons  learned  through  the 
giving  of  attention,  but  the  mind  being  centered  upon 
the  lesson  or  task,  is  not  engaged  in  some  less  profitable 
occupation,  is  not  concerned  with  those  things  that  work 
contrary  to  the  moral  well-being. 

(c)   DISCIPLINE 

Granted  now  that  interest  and  attention  are  gained, 
the  third  point,  that  of  discipline,  will  take  care  of  itself. 
It  will  certainly  be  present  if  the  proper  mental  attitude 
has  been  assumed  by  the  pupils.  The  matter  of  disci- 
pline is,  in  itself,  a  serious  problem.  Among  a  number 
of  teachers  each  holding  the  same  view  as  to  its  vrlue  hi 
school  work,  there  may  be  a  wide  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  what  constitutes  good  discipline. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  adherence  to  military 
rule  denotes  a  high  standard  of  discipline.  The  calmest 
and  quietest  pupils,  may,  in  fact,  be  giving  the  minimum 
of  attention.  What  I  wish  to  say  is  this:  the  outward 
appearance  and  attitude  of  the  pupil  usually  is,  but  may 
not  always  be,  indicative  of  attention  to  the  work  in  hand 
or  of  adherence  to  discipline.  Frequently  are  pupils  found 
who,  through  physical  disability,  perhaps,  are  unable  to 


134  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

hold  themselves  to  the  outward  forms  of  attention,  but 
will  upon  examination  show  themselves  thoroughly  alive 
to  the  lesson  or  the  task.  On  the  other  hand,  the  teacher 
will  many  times  find  that  those  who  appear  to  be  giving 
marked  attention  are  really  wool  gathering,  and  must  be 
recalled  to  the  present. 

One  illustration  will  suffice,  as  parallels  will  be  found 
in  the  experience  of  every  teacher.  The 
outward  writer  recalls  that  hi  a  certain  class,  one  boy 
Discipline  m  particular  seemingly  gave  the  closest  of 
attention,  his  attitude  at  all  times  being  above 
question.  Almost  invariably,  however,  was  his  mind  upon 
something  other  than  his  lesson.  Seldom  were  his  thoughts 
centered,  as  would  seem  to  be  the  case  judging  from  his 
bodily  attitude.  In  the  same  class  a  boy  of  nervous 
temperament  and  apparently  undisciplined,  and  one  who 
would  have  been  picked  out  as  of  a  mind-wandering,  care- 
less, inattentive  disposition,  was  one  of  the  ready  pupils 
in  the  group.  Of  a  sensitive  and  nervous  disposition,  he 
would  leave  his  seat,  stand,  and  face  around  in  the  aisle, 
but  when  a  question  or  a  request  for  an  expression  came 
to  him,  he  was  seldom  found  wanting. 

Aristophanes  in  his  Clouds  says: 

"I  prepare  myself  to  speak 
Of  manners  primitive  and  that  good  time 
Which  I  have  seen,  when  discipline  prevailed, 
And  modesty  was  sanctioned  by  the  laws. 
No  babbling  then  was  suffered  in  the  school; 
The  scholar's  text  was  silence.   The  whole  group 
In  orderly  procession  sallied  forth 
Right  onward  without  straggling 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          135 

To  attend  their  teacher  in  harmonics. 

Though  the  snow  fell  on  them  thick  as  meal,  the  hardy  brood 

Breasted  the  storm  uncloaked.    Their  harps  were  strung 

Not  to  ignoble  strains,  for  they  were  taught 

A  loftier  key,  whether  to  chant  the  name 

Of  Pallas  terrible  amid  the  blaze 

Of  cities  overthrown;  or  wide  and  far  to  spread, 

As  custom  was,  the  echoing  peal." 

From  our  modern  educational  standpoint,  the  quotation 
indicates  another  and  perhaps  a  more  extreme  view.  We 
find  too  frequently  such  a  lack  of  discipline  and  obedience 
as  leads  to  entire  irreverence  for  right  or  for  the  welfare 
of  others.  Too  often,  I  say,  do  we  find  the  pupil's  educa- 
tion hi  this  direction  such  as  to  run  counter  to  the  laws 
of  society. 

It  happens  not  infrequently  that  one  pupil  in  a  class  is 

the  cause  of  more  anxiety  and  thought  on  the 

Refractory       Par*  °^  *ne  teacher,  than  are  all  other  mem- 

Pupiionthe      bers  of  the  class  combined.    The  insistence 

Eight  Side 

of  the  one  upon  doing  as  he  pleases  without 
consideration  for  his  associates,  or  regard  for  suggestion 
from  the  teacher,  tends  to  produce  a  school  lacking  hi  the 
best  kind  of  discipline  and  leads  the  individual  on  to  an 
utter  disregard  for  moral  obligation  and  right  living. 
It  is  here  that  the  tact  of  the  teacher  must  be  shown. 
Moralizing,  imploring  or  threatening  will  seldom  be 
sufficient  to  conquer  the  difficulty,  and  in  all  likelihood 
will  do  harm  rather  than  good.  Neither  should  the 
teacher  resort  to  that  method  so  frequently  advocated, 
of  striving  to  have  the  pupil  do  right  for  the  teacher's 
sake,  or  to  please  the  latter.  Let  the  teacher  find  some 


136  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

dominant  interest  of  the  refractory  pupil;  let  him  study 
this  and  invent  some  means  of  directing  this  interest  into 
proper  channels.  There  is  no  pupil  so  careless,  so  in- 
attentive, so  disobedient,  as  not  to  be  amenable  to  dis- 
cipline, if  he  is  thoroughly  understood  and  properly 
handled.  In  this  connection  Spencer  says,  "Do  but  gain 
a  boy's  trust;  convince  him  by  your  behavior  that  you 
have  his  happiness  at  heart;  let  him  discover  that  you 
are  the  wiser  of  the  two;  let  him  experience  the  benefits 
of  following  your  advice  and  the  evils  that  arise  from 
disregarding  it;  and  fear  not  you  will  readily  enough 
guide  him."  * 

Obedience  must  be  had;  and  this  obedience  should  be 
carried  over  into  the  realm  of  choice.    Care- 
Obedience         lessness  and  dishonesty  follow  disobedience: 

must  become  J 

Choice  truthfulness  and  self-reliance  will  grow  out 

of  obedience.  The  child  must  be  guided  to 
that  point  where  choice  shall  determine  that  he  will  be  on 
the  side  of  honesty,  of  right,  and  of  justice. 

To  accomplish  this  in  the  school  is  certainly  no  mean 
task.  Shall  the  child  be  obedient  simply  because  the 
teacher  says  he  must?  Shall  obstacles  be  thrown  in  the 
way  and  the  educational  path  filled  with  underbrush  in 
order  that  the  pupil  may  select  the  right  and  thus  gain 
strength  of  character  ?  He  must  learn  to  do  right  for  the 
sake  of  right;  he  must  choose  the  best  because  he  can  be 
content  with  nothing  less;  he  must  look  upon  honest  ac- 
tion and  straightforward  dealing,  not  as  a  namby-pamby 

*  Social  Statics,  "  The  Rights  of  Children,"  pp.  85-86. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING  137 

conception,  but  as  the  only  avenue  through  which  he  can 
keep  his  own  self-respect,  or  merit  the  appreciation  of 
others.  He  must  be  willing  to  be  right  at  the  expense  of 
standing  alone. 

That  discipline  and  obedience  are  often  lacking,  is 

forcefully  portrayed  by  Mr.  Elbert  Hubbard. 

operation"        He  says:  "No  man  has  endeavored  to  carry 

Difficult  to        out  an  enterprise  where  many  hands  were 

Enlist 

needed,  but  has  been  well-nigh  appalled  at 
times  by  the  imbecility  of  the  average  man — the  inability — 
or  unwillingness  to  concentrate  on  a  thing  and  do  it. 
Slipshod  assistance,  foolish  Inattention,  dowdy  indiffer- 
ence, and  half-hearted  work  seem  to  rule;  and  no  man 
succeeds,  unless  by  hook  or  crook,  or  threat,  he  forces 
or  bribes  other  men  to  assist  him;  or  mayhap,  God  in  his 
Goodness,  performs  a  miracle,  and  sends  him  an  Angel  of 
Light  for  an  assistant.  You,  reader,  put  this  matter  to  a 
test:  You  are  sitting  now  in  your  office — six  clerks  are 
within  call.  Summon  any  one  and  make  this  request: 
'  Please  look  in  the  encyclopedia  and  make  a  brief  memo- 
randum for  me  concerning  the  life  of  Correggio.'  Will 
the  clerk  quietly  say,  '  Yes,  sir,'  and  go  and  do  the  task  ? 
"  On  your  life  he  will  not.  He  will  look  at  you  out  of  a 
fishy  eye,  and  ask  one  or  more  of  the  following  questions: 

"'Who  was  he? 

"  'Which  encyclopedia? 

"  'Where  is  the  encyclopedia? 

"'Was  I  hired  for  that? 

"  '  Don't  you  mean  Bismarck  ? 


138  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

"  'What's  the  matter  with  Charlie  doing  it? 
"'Is  he  dead? 
"  'Is  there  any  hurry? 

"  'Shan't  I  bring  the  book  and  let  you  look  it  up  your- 
self? 
"  '  What  do  you  want  to  know  for  ? ' 

"And  I  will  lay  you  ten  to  one  that  after  you  have 
answered  the  questions,  and  explained  how  to  find  the 
information,  and  why  you  want  it,  the  clerk  will  go  off 
and  get  one  of  the  other  clerks  to  help  him  to  try  to  find 
Garcia — and  then  come  back  and  tell  you  there  is  no 
such  man.  Of  course  I  may  lose  my  bet,  but  according 
to  the  Law  of  Average,  I  will  not."  * 

One  would  rarely  speak  in  too  forceful  terms  of  the 
bearing  of  obedience  upon  moral  character.  He  who  has 
himself  learned  to  obey  can  lead  others  to  learn  the  same 
lesson.  "Servants,  obey  your  masters,"  is  a  wise  adage. 
Before  one  can  be  a  good  leader  he  must  first  learn  to 
serve.  Disobedience  in  little  things  leads  finally  to  acute 
difficulties.  The  teacher  must  use  judgment 
and  suggest  nothing  to  be  done  that  is  not 
entirely  just  and  reasonable,  and  within  the 
T  com1*67  ranSe  °f  possibility.  Having  made  a  sugges- 
piied  with  tion,  which  under  ordinary  conditions  should 
be  all  that  is  necessary  (and  under  ordinary 
conditions  also,  the  suggestion  should  be  made  only  once), 
he  must  see  to  it  that  it  is  followed  to  the  letter.  "Pre- 
cepts often  heard  and  little  regarded,  lose  by  repetition  the 

*  A  Message  to  Garcia. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          139 

small  influence  they  had."  *  A  ready  and  cheerful  re- 
sponse on  the  part  of  the  pupils,  to  rational  suggestions 
and  requirements  will  go  far  toward  training  in  right 
habits  of  obedience  and  in  laying  the  foundation  of  moral 
character. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  there  is  not  only  a  close  relation 
existing  between  school  discipline  and  moral  education, 
but  in  certain  of  their  phases  they  touch  and  overlap, 
becoming  one  and  the  same  principle. 

"There  are  four  cardinal  rules  which  relate  directly 
to  school  discipline,"  says  Doctor  Harris. 


Rules  under-     "The  child  must  be  regular  and  punctual, 

lying  Disci- 

pline silent  and  industrious."     Moral  training  is 

character  training,  and  discipline  has  a  great 

part  to  perform  in  the  formation  of  character.    "Char- 

acter," says  Novalis,  "is  the  completely  rounded  will." 

The  moral  status  of  the  individual  must  be  such  as  to 

fit  him  to  perform  willingly  and  cheerfully  two  classes  of 

duties:  those  relating  to  his  own  welfare  and  those  touch- 

ing the  well-being  of  others.    Broadly  speaking,  there  is 

no  clash  between  these  two  sets  of  duties.    What  is  really 

best  for  the  individual  is  best  for  society;  and 

Eolation  of       conversely,  what  is  for  the  best  interests  of 

Individual  to  *  ' 

society  society   is   most   fitting   for   the   individual. 

This  must  be  so   since  society  places  the 

standard  for  moral  action,  f    In  learning  the  twofold  les- 

son of  self-reliance  and  mutual  helpfulness,  an  altruistic 

•Spencer:  The  Study  of  Sociology,  chap.  15,  p.  366. 
t  See  this  volume,  p.  24. 


140  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

spirit  is  developed  in  the  pupil.  He  gains  that  character 
which  is  "in  general  uniformity  and  fixedness  of  the  whole 
of  will." 

Herbart  says:  "Children  have  at  first  no  real  moral 

character.     It   arises   gradually   and   begins 

Moral  char-      when  here  and  there  single  moral  volitions 

acter  of  the  .  ....  .„ 

child  arise  from  the  union  of  similar  acts  of  will. 

These  more  general  determinations  of  will 
action,  which  through  the  apperception  begin  to  accept  or 
reject  the  new  will  actions,  form  the  beginning  of  the  sub- 
jective side  or  subjective  foundations  of  character;  over 
against  this  stands  the  objective  past,  or  the  single  will 
act  which  results  from  a  manifold  of  desires.  The  sub- 
jective part  of  character  is  that  which  determines;  the  ob- 
jective part  is  that  which  is  determined." 

Moral  education,  like  all  other  education  deserving  the 
name,  is  not  a  certain  knowledge;  but  it  is 
Meaning  of  a  training  in  the  moral  life — the  practice  of 
Moral  Edu-  morality;  it  is  the  entering  upon  a  good,  up- 
right and  useful  life.  "Moral  education  be- 
gins in  infancy;  and  is  affected,  influenced,  continued  by 
everything  that  the  eyes  see,  that  the  ears  hear,  that  the 
hands  touch  and  handle  and  by  all  the  thoughts  that  are 
awakened  in  the  child's  mind  by  what  is  seen  by  it,  or 
said  or  done  in  its  presence.  Therefore  moral  education 
is  effected  chiefly  through  the  child's  most  constant  asso- 
ciations. Those  with  whom  the  child  spends  most  time, 
have  most  to  do  with  his  moral  training,  whether  it  is  the 
pupils  in  the  school,  the  workmen  who  are  building  the 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          141 

house  next  door,  the  men  who  take  care  of  the  horses  in 
the  stable,  the  teacher  in  the  school,  or  the  family  in  the 
home."    "I  count  it  as  one  of  the  most  hurtful  delusions 
upon  this  subject  of  moral  training  to  sup- 
pose that  any  great  effect  can  be  produced  by 
what  is  said  to  the  child,  or  what  the  child 


studies  out  of  a  book,  in  regard  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  morality.  These  methods  are  useful  and  have 
their  place  no  doubt;  but  the  great  effect  is  produced  by 
the  sum  total  of  the  associations  of  the  developing  mind. 
What  is  done  in  the  presence  of  pupils  hi  school  will  stand 
for  more  than  what  is  said  to  them,  or  what  the  book  or 
page  says  to  them." 

Says  Doctor  Dewey  hi  speaking  of  the  school,  "The  de- 

mand is  for  social  intelligence,  social  power, 

The  school        social  interests.     Our  resources  are,  (i)  the 

as  a  Moral 

Agent  life  of  the  school  as  a  social  institution  in 

itself;  (2)  methods  of  learning  and  doing  work, 
and  (3)  the  school  studies  or  curriculum.  In  so  far  as  the 
school  represents,  in  its  own  spirit,  a  genuine  community 
life;  in  so  far  as  what  are  called  school  discipline,  gov- 
ernment, order,  etc.,  are  the  expressions  of  this  inherent 
social  spirit;  in  so  far  as  the  methods  used  are  those  which 
appeal  to  the  active  and  constructive  powers,  permitting 
the  child  to  give  out,  and  thus  to  serve;  in  so  far  as  the 
curriculum  is  so  selected  and  organized  as  to  provide  the 
material  for  affording  the  child  a  consciousness  of  the 
world  in  which  he  has  to  play  a  part,  and  the  relations  he 
has  to  meet;  in  so  far  as  these  ends  are  met,  the  school  is 


142  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

organized  on  an  ethical  basis.  So  far  as  general  princi- 
ples are  concerned,  all  the  basic  ethical  requirements  are 
met.  The  rest  remains  between  the  individual  teacher 
and  the  individual  child."  * 

But  after  all  there  is  an  abnormal  tendency  to  eliminate 
from  the  school  any  suggestion  of  religious  instruction. 
In  many  localities  the  use  of  the  Bible  is  prohibited  to  the 
schools,  legislation  having  been  enacted  to  forbid  reading 
of  the  Scriptures.  Discrimination  is  not  made  between 
religious  and  moral  instruction  upon  the  one  hand,  and 
sectarian  teaching  upon  the  other.  No  teacher  should  be 
denied  the  use  of  any  book,  the  teachings  of  which  go  to 
strengthen  the  moral  fiber  of  the  individual.  If  religion 
is  necessary  to  develop  the  moral  tone  of  the  school,  no 
hand  should  be  laid  upon  the  teacher  who  brings  to  his 
aid  the  Bible.  Denominational  and  doctrinal  teachings 
should,  of  course,  have  no  place. 

The  words  of  President  Butler  are  significant;  he  says: 
"The  religious  element  may  not  be  permitted  to  pass 
wholly  out  of  education,  unless  we  are  to  cripple  it  and 
render  it  hopelessly  incomplete.  .  .  .  It  is  enough  to 
point  out  that  the  religious  element  of  human  culture  is 
essential;  and  that,  by  some  effective  agency,  it  must  be 
presented  to  every  child  whose  education  aims  at  com- 
pleteness or  proportion."  f 

Strange  it  is  indeed  that  in  the  evolution  of  the  school 

*  Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education,  p.  26 ;  quoted  in  part  on 
p.  54. 

t  The  Meaning  of  Education,  pp.  30-31. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          143 

we  should  pass  from  a  time  in  which  the  teaching  of  so- 
called  religion  was  the  principal  excuse  for  its  existence, 
to  the  present,  when  the  very  word  religion  is  eliminated 
from  the  phraseology  of  the  teacher.  Even  as  a  book  of 
literary  worth  we  are  fast  doing  away  with  the  Bible  in 
school,  and  we  seem  fearful  of  drawing  upon  its  pages 
for  lessons  in  moral  and  religious  instruction.  Are  we  to 
lose  sight  of  the  lessons  to  be  drawn  from  the  life  of  the 
Great  Teacher?  Other  great  lives  we  study  for  the  in- 
spiration, and  enthusiasm,  and  moral  strength  they  give 
us.  Shall  that  life  be  ignored  which,  simple  in  its  sim- 
plicity and  human  in  its  humanity,  gives  us  out  of  a  few 
short  years  such  experiences,  parables  and  moral  lessons 
as  to  cause  Him  to  be  remembered  through  nineteen  cen- 
turies of  war  and  turmoil  and  change  and  development? 
The  strong  words  of  Professor  Jackman  are  in  point: 
"Unless,"  he  says,  "we  can  pursuade  ourselves  that 
present  day  graft  is  an  allegory,  we  need  the  Bible  chiefly 
for  neither  its  fables  nor  its  myths,  but  for  its  straight- 
out-from-the-shoulder  teachings  that  Jesus  and  the 
prophets  leveled  toward  the  evils  of  their  day.  There- 
fore, along  with  the  piety  of  the  heathen  philosopher,  I 
would  see  practically  worked  into  every  year  of  school 
life,  and  all  the  years  thereafter,  the  plain  and  simple,  the 
beautiful  and  understandable,  teachings  of  Christ.  If 
that  means  teaching  religion,  then  teach  it;  if  it  means 
bringing  the  Bible  into  the  public  school,  bring  it  in;  with 
all  sincerity,  candor,  and  earnestness,  fetch  it  in."  * 

*  Elementary  School  Teacher,  vol.  vi,  pp.  435-436. 


144  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

The  part  that  the  emotions  play  in  moral  instruction 
should  ever  be  kept  before  the  mind.  A  moral  attitude  can- 
not be  driven  or  drilled  into  the  child;  the  ground  must  be 
prepared  and  the  mind  receptive.  It  is  not  the  intellectual, 
but  the  emotional,  side  of  human  nature  that  causes  us 
to  start  and  thrill  at  the  sound  of  the  national  anthem. 
Herbert  Spencer,  in  discussing  national  education,  has 
this  to  say:  "Whatever  moral  benefit  can  be  effected  by 
education,  must  be  effected  by  an  education  which  is 
emotional  rather  than  intellectual.  If  in  the  place  of 
making  a  child  understand  that  this  thing  is  right  and 
the  other  wrong,  you  make  it  feel  that  they  are  so — if 
you  make  virtue  loved  and  vice  loathed — if  you  arouse  a 
noble  desire,  and  make  torpid  an  inferior  one — if  you 
bring  into  life  a  previously  dormant  sentiment — if  you 
cause  a  sympathetic  impulse  to  get  the  better  of  one  that 
is  selfish — if,  in  short,  you  produce  a  state  of  mind  to 
which  proper  behavior  is  natural,  spontaneous,  instinctive, 
you  do  some  good.  But  no  drilling  in  catechisms,  no 
teaching  of  moral  codes,  can  effect  this."  * 

Finally,  the  purpose  of  our  school  work  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  moral  standards  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  is  to  help 
each  one  to  see  and  appreciate  his  duty  to  himself  and  to 
see  and  appreciate  the  place  he  should  occupy  as  regards 
his  fellows. 

*  Social  Statics,  pp.  175-176. 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          145 

THESES 

1.  There  is  great  need  for  an  advance  in  moral  stand- 
ards, both  public  and  private. 

2.  Moral  training  in  the  early  schools  and  under  for- 
mer systems  took  the  form  of  religious  instruction. 

3.  "Education  is  life."     The  purpose  of  the  school  is 
to  train  all  the  powers;  the  pupil  must  become  master  of 
himself  on  his  physical,  mental,  and  moral  sides. 

4.  Moral  training  can  best  be  brought  about  through 
a  thorough  regard  for  discipline,  which  is  based  largely 
upon  and  determined  by  the  degree  of  attention  given. 
Attention  can  be  secured  only  as  there  is  a  deep  and 
satisfying  interest  promoting  it. 

5.  Interest  must  be  "many  sided."    The  study  of  the 
concrete  form  is  essential.     The  unusual  should  not  be 
resorted  to,  and  pupils  must  be  led  to  do  those  things  in 
which  they  may  have  little  interest;  otherwise  they  may 
become  one-sided,  selfish,  and  unmindful  of  the  rights  of 
others. 

6.  Voluntary  attention  should  grow  out  of  the  invol- 
untary form;  and  this  may  be  accomplished  largely  by 
means  of  properly  graded  subject-matter. 

7.  Discipline  as  a  problem  will  be  minimized  if  atten- 
tion and  interest  are  secured.     The  suggestion  of  the 
teacher  must  be  implicitly  followed.     The  pupil  who  is 
not  taught  to  obey  cannot  be  expected  to  claim  obedience 
from  others.    Obedience  should  in  time  be  carried  over 
into  the  realm  of  choice. 

Standards — 10 


146  .    STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

8.  Since  it  is  so  largely  upon  obedience  that  the  moral 
life  of  the  individual  depends,  regularity,  punctuality 
and  courtesy  should  be  insisted  upon.  The  principles  of 
morality  are  not  gained  from  a  book  or  from  the  spoken 
word  simply,  but  from  the  unconscious  influences;  the 
sum  total  of  the  associations  of  the  developing  mind. 
What  is  done  stands  for  more  than  what  is  said. 

TOPICS   FOR   STUDY 

1.  The  school  as  a  moral  institution. 

2.  The  use  of  the  Bible  in  the  school;  shall  it  be  used 
for  its  literary  and  historic  values  only  ? 

3.  Has  the  church  or  parochial  school  a  higher  moral 
standard  than  the  public  school  ?     Does  it  succeed  better 
than  the  public  school  in  living  up  to  its  ideal  ? 

4.  Consider  fully  the  tests  of  moral  standards  in  edu- 
cation. 

5.  Are  some  school  studies  more  ethical  in  their  char- 
acter than  are  others? 

6.  Is  it  more  difficult  to  interest  pupils  in  a  study  of 
morals  than  in  other  subjects  ? 

7.  How  may  the  study  of  strong  moral  characters,  such 
as  Lincoln  and  Garrison,  be  made  most  valuable  ? 

8.  Are  girls,  or  boys,  the  more  amenable  to  discipline  ? 

9.  Is  the  moral  tone  of  the  community  where  the  study 
of  morals  has  a  place  in  the  school,  higher  than  it  is  else- 
where ? 

10.  The    school    surroundings    and    moral    training. 
Which  plays  the  greater  part,  environment  or  heredity? 


THE  BASIS  OF  ETHICAL  TRAINING          147 

11.  The  relation  of  teacher  to  parent  in  matters  of 
morals  and  of  discipline. 

12.  Devotional  exercises  in  the  school.     Should  the 
pupils  take  active  part  and  if  so,  how?     What  is  the 
value  of  responsive  reading?    Discuss  the  advisability  of 
having  the  whole   school  assemble  together  for  general 
exercises. 

13.  Study   the   question   of   discipline   in   the   several 
grades  of  the  elementary  school.    Are  teachers  agreed  that 
there  are  certain  years  or  grades  in  which  the  problem  is 
a  particularly  troublesome  one? 

14.  Recall  a  number  of  groups  of  children  of  various 
ages  and  determine  whether  the  attention  generally  given 
is  of  a  voluntary  or  involuntary  nature,  or  whether  with 
any  given  individual  the  attention  is  now  of  one  form  and 
now  of  another. 

15.  Make  a  list  of  those  studies  or  subjects  in  which  you 
now  have  most  interest.    Were  you  interested  chiefly  in 
these  subjects  hi  your  elementary  school  days?     Can 
you  recall  what  were  the  causes  that  tended  to  make  a 
given  study  interesting  ? 

Was  there  a  change  in  this  respect,  the  interesting  study 
of  a  given  year  becoming  the  uninteresting  one  of  a  suc- 
ceeding year  and  vice  versa?  Account  for  this. 

Apply  the  same  tests  as  above  suggested  for  school 
studies,  to  matters  or  subjects  entirely  without  the  range 
of  the  school. 


148 


STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 


CONSULT 

ADAMS  Relation  of  the  School  Studies  to  Moral  Train- 

ing. Third  Yearbook,  National  Herbart  So- 
ciety, p.  73. 

BRUMBAUGH    The  Making  of  a  Teacher,  pp.  25-37;  250-261. 

BUTLER  Meaning  of  Education,  particularly  pp.  28-31. 

COOLEY  Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order,  chaps.  2  & 

12. 

DE  GARMO      Social  Aspects  of   Moral  Education.     Third 
Yearbook,  National  Herbart  Society,  p.  35. 

DEWEY  Ethical  Principles  Underlying  Education.  Third 

Yearbook,  National  Herbart  Society,  p.  75. 
School  and  Society. 

HALL  Moral  Education  and  Will  Training,  Pedagog- 

ical Seminary,  vol.  n,  pp.  72-89. 

HARRIS  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen — The  Re- 

lation of  School  Discipline  to  Moral  Educa- 
tion. Third  Yearbook,  National  Herbart 
Society,  p.  58. 

HERBART         Science  of  Education,  pp.  110-120;  200-252. 

JACKMAN         Elementary  School  Teacher,  vol.  6,  pp.  431-437. 

CALL  Present  Notions  about  Ethical  Instruction  in 

our  Public  Schools,  75th  Annual  Proceedings, 
American  Institute  of  Instruction,  pp.  61-88. 

MACCUNN       The  Making  of  Character,  chap.  6. 

McMuRRY       Elements  of  General  Method,  chap.  3. 

PARKER  Talks  on  Pedagogics,  chaps.  6  &  14. 

SADLER  Report    on    Moral    Education    in    American 

Schools  with  Special  Reference  to  the  For- 
mation of  Character. 

THORNDIKE     Notes  on  Child  Study,  chap.  16. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HABIT 

HABIT  may  be  defined  in  terms  of  character.  Cul- 
ture comes  through  character,  and  when 
true  culture  is  developed  in  the  schoolroom, 


Element  in       character  is  being  formed.     But  this  culture 

Character 

or  character  is  to  come  as  right  habits  are 
rooted  and  mirrored  in  action. 

Habits,  good  or  bad,  are  being  formed  continually.  It 
is  a  commonplace,  but  one  of  which  we  need 
constantly  to  remind  ourselves,  that  a  thing 


Acquiring         Once  done,  an  act  once  accomplished,  tends 

Habits  .      . 

always  to  develop  a  desire  to  repeat  that  ac- 
tivity. The  act  or  deed  accompanied  by  painful  sensa- 
tions may  be  more  readily  inhibited  than  the  one  followed 
by  feelings  of  pleasure  or  joy.  The  sensation  that  ac- 
companies the  placing  of  the  fingers  in  the  cogs  of  a 
wheel  may  be  such  as  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  act 
and  the  formation  of  the  habit  of  tampering  with  cogs; 
and  thus  a  restraining  habit  may  be  formed.  In  a  more 
purely  mental  connection,  the  field  and  force  of  habit 
is  easily  appreciated.  The  thing  once  done  tends  to  be 
repeated,  and  whether  physical  or  mental,  the  attempt 
is  made  to  explain  this  from  the  pathological  standpoint. 

149 


150  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

The  doing  of  the  thing,  the  thought  process,  or  the  framing 
of  an  idea,  has  as  its  resultant  in  consciousness 

^/Thetry  tne  wearing  of  a  Path  or  the  blazing  of  a  trail 
through  the  brain.  Just  as  a  pioneer,  thread- 
ing his  way  through  the  forest,  blazes  the  trees,  that  he 
may  leave  a  path  by  which  to  retrace  his  steps,  or  as  the 
vanguard  of  the  engineering  corps  marks  the  landscape, 
so  are  paths  made  in  the  brain.  When  an  act  is  performed 
for  the  first  time,  sign  posts  are  set  up,  which  invite  and 
impel  a  repetition.  The  line  of  least  resistance  is  over 
a  traveled  path  rather  than  through  an  undiscovered 
region. 

All  recent  authorities  on  the  psychology  of  habit  are 

wont  to  ascribe  to  the  mental  phase  a  physi- 

Tne  Mental       caj  counterpart,  and  to  show  the  relation  be- 

and  Physical  A 

—A  Parallel       tween  habit  in  the  material  world  and  in  the 
realm  of  mentality.     Every  schoolboy  knows 
how  disagreeable  it  is  to  have  a  shoe  "  run  over."     For 
some  reason  one  side  of  the  shoe  is  subjected  to  more 
pressure  than  the  other,  and  before  the  indi- 
vidual  is  aware,  he  is  walking  upon  the  side 


Physical  rather  than  the  bottom  of  the  shoe.     The 

turning  habit  in  the  shoe  has  been  formed, 
subsequent  wrinkles  and  creases  appearing  in  the  same 
spots  where  they  first  occurred.  No  end  of  trouble  and 
annoyance  is  thus  occasioned  before  a  normal  condition 
is  reached  ;  and  perhaps  the  fault  is  never  remedied. 

Another  common  illustration  of  the  same  principle  : 
as  you  drive,  you  perceive  that  a  rein  has  become  twisted. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HABIT  151 

This  may  have  been  brought  about  by  twisting  or  doubling 
the  rein  when  removing  the  harness  on  a  previous  occa- 
sion. Being  now  used  again,  it  tenaciously  holds  to  the 
twist,  that  is,  the  habit  has  developed,  it  being  easier  for 
the  leather  to  fall  into  an  improper  shape  than  to  act  the 
part  expected  of  it. 

The  acquiring  of  a  habit  may  be  likened  to  the  making 
of  a  chain.  The  links  are  made  separately,  joined  to- 
gether one  by  one,  until  the  complete  chain  is  formed. 
Each  repetition  of  an  act  is  a  link  in  the  chain  of  habit 
and  soon  will  become  part  of  the  life  of  the  individual. 

But  while  habit  is  thus  built  up  gradually  and  logic- 
ally, release  from  a  habit  does  not  come 
Building  up  readily  through  the  reverse  process.  The 

vs.  Tearing  ' 

down  sure  way  is  not  to  break  the  links  one  by 

one,  to  stop  by  degrees,  to  "taper  off."  In 
rare  instances  this  method  may  bring  results,  but  the 
way  to  stop  is  to  stop.  Under  the  great  law  governing 
education,  the  little  by  little  process  must,  perforce,  be 
used  in  acquiring  knowledge.  To  break  successfully 
with  a  habit,  however,  we  must  break  now,  here,  at  once 
and  completely. 

You  want  your  pupils  to  acquire  the  habit  of  standing 

straight,  of  holding  the  bodies  erect ;  you  want  them  to 

enunciate  clearly  and  10  write  legibly ;  you 

Acquired          desire  that  they  should  be  clean  and  neat  in 

Through  personal  appearance  and  methodical  in  their 

manner  of  doing  things  ;  you   demand  that 

equity  and  helpfulness  prevail  among  the  classes ;  you 


152  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

see  the  necessity  for  punctuality  and  regularity  in  at- 
tendance ;  and  you  insist  that  nature  as  well  as  books  be 
studied.  To  get  into  the  habit  of  standing  erect,  the 
pupil  must  stand  erect ;  distinct  speech  comes  habitually 
through  clear  enunciation ;  a  legible  hand  is  the  result 
of  practice  that  has  formed  the  habit ;  to  be  always  neat 
and  tidy  means  constant  care  in  this  regard ;  proper 
methods,  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  others,  the  virtue 
of  being  on  time  and  the  love  of  nature  and  of  books, — 
these  all  come  through  habits  formed  and  made  a  part 
of  our  mental  machinery. 

Consider  now  the  reverse  order  of  things, — the  draw- 
ing away  from  harmful  practices  and  wrong  attitudes. 
Here  again  habit  has  played  its  part.     The 
Relation  of       word  or  deed  you  deprecate  belongs  more  and 

the  Difficulty  J 

in  Breaking  more  to  the  individual  as  the  practice  goes  on. 
SiSiuency  Habit  is  becoming  stronger  and  stronger, 
and  Length  The  more  frequent  the  performance  of  the 

of  Perform- 
ance act  the  more  secure  becomes  the  grip  of  the 

habit  Looked  at  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  school,  the  teacher  now  has  a  double  task.  With  a 
free  field  a  desirable  habit  may  be  inculcated  with  com- 
parative ease  ;  but  when  a  new  habit  must  take  the 
,,  _.  place  of  an  old  one,  then  the  latter  must  be 

More  Diffi- 
culty to  given  battle  and  routed  before  the  former 

old  Habits  can  occupy tne  ground.  Thus  the  difficulties 
than  to  ES-  are  increased.  This  helping:  to  break  up  old 

tabliah  New 

habits  and  to  establish  new  ones  is  by  no 
means  the  least  duty  that  falls  to  the  teacher. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HABIT  153 

If,  then,  a  pernicious  habit  is  to  be  eradicated,  if  the 
pupil  does  not  use  grammatical  forms  or  indulges  in  un- 
becoming language,  if  he  is  selfish  or  stubborn  or  lazy, 
if  he  reads  harmful  literature  or  is  being  injured  by  his 
fondness  for  tobacco,  if  he  "  cuts  "  school  or  cheats  in 
his  lesson  or  is  otherwise  untruthful,  he  has  these  habits 
to  wipe  out  before  those  representing  opposite  tendencies 
can  be  substituted.  He  must  eradicate  the  evil  by  sub- 
stituting the  good. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  aid  to  one  endeavoring  to  cure 
himself  of  a  bad  habit  is  to  keep  free  from  that  which 
prompts  it.  The  tendency  toward  subsequent  action  be- 
ing so  strong,  as  already  shown,  it  is  unwise  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  temptation.  The  longer  time  that  can  elapse 
before  the  subsequent  repetition  of  a  wrong  habit,  the 
greater  likelihood  of  its  complete  inhibition.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  habit  to  be  fixed  demands  repetition  many 
times  in  one  form  or  another.  To  repeat,  to  review,  to 
recapitulate,  to  turn  again  to  the  question,  all  these  un- 
der proper  conditions,  will  tend  toward  habit  formation. 

Professor  James,*  in  discussing  Professor  Bain's  max- 
ims on  "The  Moral  Habits,"  deduces  two  principles  of 
chief  importance.     Briefly  stated  they  are, 
first> the  £reater  the  impetus  and  determina- 
tion with  which  we  throw  ourselves  into  the 
current,  the  more  readily  will  we  acquire  a  new  habit 
or  divorce  ourselves  from  the  old  ;  and  second,  be  cer- 

*  Psychology,  Briefer  Course,  p.  145;  Principles  of  Psychology,  vol.  I, 

p.  122. 


154  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

tain  the  habit  is  a  part  of  you  before  you  allow  a  chance 
exception  to  come  upon  the  stage.  To  these  maxims 
Professor  James  adds  the  suggestion  that  a  resolution 
once  made,  no  opportunity  should  be  allowed  to  pass  or 
any  emotion  to  die,  without  acting  toward  the  desired 
end,  that  the  habit  may  be  established. 

Action  in  one  or  another  direction  is  always  essential, 
and  particularly  when  a  habit  is  to  be  broken,  or  when 
one  looks  for  a  means  to  keep  the  mind  from  dwelling 
upon  the  undesirable.  If  the  pupil  is  so  interested  and 

occupied  as  to  rivet  his  attention  upon  that 
for  Keeping  which  is  best  and  highest,  he  may  soon  be 
occupied  ^  entirety  to  forego  former  practices  or 

tendencies.  If  the  mind  is  allowed  to  dwell, 
or  focus  itself,  upon  the  old  habit,  it  will  be  an  almost 
hopeless  task  to  break  away  from  a  fixed  tendency. 
Care  must  be  exercised  that  the  pupil  is  never  idle. 
Mind  and  body  should  be  kept  occupied  ;  and  in  the 
fulfillment  of  this  necessity  is  to  be  seen  one  of  the 
great  benefits  of  industrial  education.  The  mind  is 
occupied  with  the  work  that  the  hands  are  doing,  and 
every  reformatory  as  well  as  every  school  of  industry 
stands  as  an  example  of  the  value  of  concentrated  em- 
ployment. 

Teach  the  lesson  of  the  significance  of  habit.  En- 
deavor to  inculcate  in  your  pupils  the  desire  for  right 
habits  and  the  inhibition  of  bad  ones  ;  and  do  this  even 
at  the  expense  of  skipping  &  few  pages  in  the  book.  Lead 
them  to  understand  that  in  business  or  pleasure,  in  school 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HABIT  155 

or  out,  in  whatever  rank  or  station,  trade  or  profession, 
he  only  is  successful  who  has  subdued  or  kept  down  un- 
desirable habits  and  who  has  in  large  measure  acquired 
habits  of  worth. 

THESES 

1.  Character  is  formed  and  determined  by  the  num- 
ber and  quality  of  one's  habits. 

2.  The  mind  is  acquiring  habits  constantly,  and  the 
more  frequently  an  act  is  performed  the  greater  likeli- 
hood of  its  repetition  and  of  a  fixed  habit  resulting. 

3.  The  pathological,  or  line  of  least  resistance  theory, 
and  its  parallel  in  the  material  world. 

4.  Habit-forming  vs.  habit-breaking, — easier  to  make 
than  to  mend. 

5.  To  acquire  a  desirable  habit,  launch  yourself  with 
energy  and  determination,  beware  of  imitations  or  excep- 
tions, and  take  advantage  of  every  opportunity  offered  to 
clinch  the  habit. 

TOPICS    FOR    STUDY 

1.  Before  the  child  enters  school,  certain  character- 
istic habits  are  partially  or  wholly  formed.     What  are 
the  chief  ones  that  the  teacher  must  endeavor  to  have 
eliminated  ? 

2.  Should  the  business  of  the  school  be  the  presenting 
of  material  such  as  to  form  new  habits,  break  bad  ones, 
or  develop  those  already  maturing  ? 

3.  Give  illustrations  of  the  force  and  tenacity  of  habit 


156  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

as  shown  in  the  lives  and  work  of  those  beyond  middle 
life. 

4.  There  are  dangers  that  may  arise  from  carrying  a 
wholesome  and  useful  habit  too  far.     What  are  they,  and 
under  what  conditions  does  the  statement  hold  ? 

5.  Make  a  list  of  injurious  habits  (of  which  the  follow- 
ing are  typical),  such  as  the  teacher  has  usually  to  con- 
tend with  in  school.     Do  these  same  habits  exhibit  them- 
selves in  adults  in  later  life  ?     Whispering,  inattention, 
absence,  tardiness,  lying,  stealing,  smoking ; — how  would 
you  proceed  in  your  crusade  against  these  obstacles  to 
educational  growth  ? 

6.  Consider  the  place  of  corporal  punishment  in  habit- 
breaking. 

7.  Compare  the  value  of  the  use  of  high  moral  stand- 
ards as  object  lessons  to  be  copied,  and  of  illustrations 
drawn  from  the  lower  levels  of  life, — the  failures, — to 
be  avoided. 

8.  What  relation  does  the  term  habit  bear  to  automatic 
action  and  to  second  nature  ? 

9.  Under  what  conditions,  if  ever,  should  a  trouble- 
some habit  be  lopped  off  by  degrees  instead  of  being 
broken  with  instantly  ? 

10.  The  great  value  of  proper  habit-forming  and  the 
dangers  from  evil  habits  should  be  put  before  school  chil- 
dren.    Just  how  far  should  such  discussion  go  and  what 
form  should  this  instruction  take  ? 

1 1.  Compare  habit-forming  in  man  with  instinct-form- 
ing in  animals. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HABIT 


157 


12.  At  what  age  do  you  find  children  most  likely  to 
inhibit  bad  habits  and  form  good  ones  ? 

1 3.  Read  the  chapter  on  habit  in  James's  Psychology 
and  write  a  page  on  the  meaning  of  habit  in  education. 

14.  Investigate  the  biological  view  of  habit  and  write 
a  clear  statement  of  this  conception. 

CONSULT 

ANGEL  Psychology,  pp.  51-63. 

BOWNE  Introduction  to  Psychological  Theory,  pp.  301- 

306. 

BRYAN  The  Basis  of  Practical  Teaching,  chap.  5. 

HALLECK         Education    of    the    Central    Nervous    System, 

pp.  222-237. 

HAMILTON       Mental  Science,  pp.  191-194. 
HORNE  Psychological  Principles  of  Education,  chap.  26. 

JAMES  Psychology,  Briefer  Course,  chap.  10. 

Principles  of  Psychology. 

Talks  to  Teachers. 

ROWE  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child,  chaps.  10  &  u. 

ROYCE  Outlines  of  Psychology,  chaps.  3,  8,  9  &  10. 

SEELEY  Elementary  Pedagogy,  chap.  10. 

STOUT  Manual  of  Psychology,  pp.  99-101. 

SULLY  The  Human  Mind,  vol.  n,  pp.  224-233. 

THORNDIKE    Elements  of  Psychology,  chap.  13. 

Principles  of  Teaching,  chap.  8. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION 

SOME  years  ago  I  visited  Stratford,  the  home  of  the 
Master  Poet,  that  I  might  receive  at  first  hand  the  in- 
spiration and  enthusiasm  breathed  from  that  historic 
environment.  I  chanced  to  arrive  on  market  day  and 
had  no  difficulty  in  finding  upon  the  street  a  young  lad 
who  volunteered  to  show  me  about.  In  the  course  of  our 
conversation  I  said  to  him: 

"How  old  are  you?" 
He  replied,  "Fourteen  years,  sir." 
"Have  you  ever  visited  London?"  I  asked. 
"No,  sir." 

"Ever  visited  Manchester?" 
"No,  sir." 

"Leamington?"  (eight  miles  distant) 
"No,  sir." 

"Do  you  ever  expect  to  go?" 
"I  don't  know,  sir." 

"How  much  did  you  make  last  year  showing  people 
about?" 
"I  took  four  pounds,  sir." 

Some  will  tell  you  that  the  fourteen  year  old  boy  who 
had  never  been  beyond  the  borders  of  his  own  village  and 
whose  outlook  was  thus  circumscribed,  was  not  being 

*58 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  159 

truly  educated,  even  though  he  was  familiar  with  his 
Caesar  and  could  recite  the  terms  of  the  Magna  Charta; 
that  a  knowledge  of  people  and  things,  of  places  and 
events,  of  methods  employed  in  carrying  on  the  complex 
existence  of  to-day  is  essential  and  cannot  be  had  within 
such  a  narrow  world  as  that  which  the  boy  occupied. 

Only  recently  I  chanced  to  be  so  seated  in  a  railway 
car  as  to  overhear  a  conversation  between  two  ladies. 
One  traveler  remarked  proudly  to  her  companion  that 
a  certain  boy  had  neither  missed  a  day  at  school  nor 
been  tardy  in  two  years.  As  I  pondered  the  matter,  I 
questioned  if  after  all  this  was  something  of  which  to 
be  proud;  if  the  education  of  this  American  boy,  with 
broader  knowledge,  perhaps,  than  that  possessed  by  the 
young  English  lad  was  such  as  to  warrant  one  hi  taking 
particular  pride  that  no  absent  or  tardy  marks  had  been 
recorded  against  his  name  hi  two  years.  And  then  I  fell 
to  thinking  of  the  statement  made  by  one  of  our  most 
eminent  school  men,  extreme  though  it  be,  that  he  thanks 
his  lucky  stars  his  own  attendance  at  school  was  for  a 
period  not  exceeding  one  year  all  told. 

For  those  who  hold  to  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline, 

it  matters  not  so  much  what  one  is  taught. 

%S%*       Whatever  is  studied   tends  to  develop  the 

MindDevei-      mind,  to  so  discipline  the  self,  the  individual, 

opment  .  .   „ 

as  to  render  him  able  to  grapple  successfully 
with  the  problems  that  confront  him  hi  later  life.  Then, 
too,  according  to  another  view,  the  child  must  pur- 
sue all  branches  of  school  knowledge  since  he  is  to  be 


160  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

developed  in  an  all-around  manner.     Especially  must  he 
taste   of   all  courses    in    the    curriculum,  it 

Danger  in 

Early  spe-        being  impossible   to  tell,   at  an   early  age, 

cializatioii  i  i  ,•  p       •»•../•  i 

Demands          what  trade,  vocation,  or  profession  he  is  to  fol- 
Trainingm       }ow>    While  this  is  an  age  of  specialization,  the 

all  Subjects  _  ,. 

real  specialist  must  first  be  a  good  generalist; 
hence,  to  avoid  narrow  and  superficial  specialization,  and 
to  be  prepared  for  any  emergency  that  may  present  itself, 
each  child  while  in  school  must  go  through  the  same  mill. 

That  the  child  cannot  pursue  all  lines  of  study,  cannot 

make  himself  master  of,  or  even  taste  of,  all 

view^at         branches   of   knowledge    in   one   lifetime   is 

child  can          evident.     No  doubt  there  are  certain  things 

Knowledge        taught  in  schools  that  should  be  taught  to  all. 

But  as  it  has  been  so  aptly  put  by  another, 

"First  things  first."     Perhaps  there  are  many  things  not 

taught  in  schools  to-day  that  should  have  a  place  on  the 

program.    Give  first  consideration  to  the  essentials. 

Colonel  Parker  says:  "Knowledge  is  boundless,  and 
your  pupils  can  get  but  a  drop  of  the  ocean.  What  knowl- 
edge shall  you  present  them  in  the  years  you  have  them 
under  your  care  and  guidance?  What  knowledge  shall 
govern  you  in  the  selection?  The  answers  are  not  far 
to  seek.  Your  selection  can  be  entirely  governed  by  what 
each  pupil  needs  for  his  personal  development.  He  needs 
that  knowledge  which  will  enable  him  best  to  serve  the 
school  and  the  world.  The  two  answers  are  one;  the 
needs  of  the  school  and  the  needs  of  the  world  are  the 
needs  of  the  individual.  A  course  of  study  is  a  means  to 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  161 

an  end.  From  this  course  of  study  the  teacher  selects  the 
material  immediately  necessary  for  the  advancement  of 
personal,  mental  and  moral  power." 

The  curriculum  must  be  such  that  the  character,  the 
form,  the  ideals  of  the  life  at  school  shall  not  differ  from, 
nor  run  counter  to,  those  of  actual  life,  and  unless  the 
school  is  recognized  as  being  in  accord  with  the  broader 
truths  of  existence,  as  a  part  of  real  life  and  not  a  prepara- 
tion merely  for  something  that  is  vague  and  indefinite; 
unless  it  deals  with  the  actual  rather  than  with  the  arti- 
ficial, then  is  the  pupil  being  cheated  of  his  heritage  and 
dwarfed  and  warped  in  his  growth. 

The  school  of  fifty  years  ago  considered  in  too  narrow 
a  sense,  perhaps,  the  so-called  practical  side 
°f  education.  To  teach  the  pupil  to  read, 


the  New;  a       to  write,  and  to  cipher,  was  then  considered 

Contrast  -,•*•, 

to  be  the  chief  duty  of  the  school  from  the 
intellectual  side.  Minor  emphasis,  was,  to  be  sure,  placed 
upon  a  study  of  the  main  facts  in  history,  of  the  geography 
of  the  earth,  of  spelling.  The  pupil  was  taught  also  to 
parse  and  conjugate.  While  with  the  glamour  attaching 
to  the  school  of  our  fathers  there  is  much  of  sentiment, 
as  seen  through  the  hazy  atmosphere  of  a  lifetime,  and 
while  we  are  apt  to  magnify  the  value  of  work  given  hi 
"the  good  old  days,"  we  admit  the  worth  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  past  and  the  part  it  has  played  in  helping  to 
shape  the  lives  of  those  who  have  built  the  nation.  We 
must  admit  also  that  in  the  earlier  days  much  energy  was 
wasted  by  the  pupils,  —  energy  that  might  have  been  turned 

Standards  —  1  1 


162  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

to  good  advantage.  Certain  it  is  that  if  the  school  of  the 
past  was  born  of  earlier  ideals  and  was  suited  to  the 
earlier  day,  the  civilization  of  the  present  demands  an 
entirely  different  type  of  school. 

Subjects  have  from  time  to  time  crept  in  to  enrich,  or 
at  least  to  help  fill,  the  program.  Spelling  is  now  taught 
both  as  an  oral  and  as  a  written  exercise,  geography  and 
history  are  studied  with  regard  to  effect  as  well  as  to 
cause;  and  the  elements  of  the  sciences  and  of  nature 
study,  music,  elocution,  drawing,  clay  modeling,  physical 
culture,  and  the  many  forms  of  hand  work,  have,  one 
after  another,  been  added  to  the  curriculum. 

In  arranging  our  courses  of  study  we  must  have  in  mind 
the  needs  and  conditions  of  the  individual  student,  so  plan- 
ning the  work  that  there  shall  be  constant  reference  to  the 
pupil's  capacity  and  to  his  life  after  leaving  the  school. 
The  curriculum  must  grow  out  of  experience  and  since  cir- 
cumstances and  the  individual  teacher  must  largely  deter- 
mine details,  what  follows  should  be  used  as  suggestive  only. 

In  enumerating  the  subjects  that  may  properly  be  com- 
prised in  the  elementary  school  curriculum, 
sevenfold*  •"•  ^°  not  nave  m  rnind  the  correlation  of 
ciassiflca-  studies,  in  the  loose  sense  of  the  common 

tion  of 

studies  usage  of  that  term.     I  am  thinking  rather 

of  those  particular  subjects,  considered  in  a 
broad  sense,  that  go  to  make  up  the  everyday  life  of  the 
child  of  primary  grade.  I  am  thinking  of  a  group  of  sub- 
jects that  should  compel  his  attention  because  of  their 
constant  action  and  interaction  about  him,  subjects  that 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  163 

furnish  the  material  for  his  everyday  experiences,  and 
by  and  through  which  he  is  constantly  expressing  him- 
self, subjects  that  assist  him  to  interpret  the  great  world 
of  life  and  action  and  through  which  he  In  turn  interprets 
to  others.  The  classification  is: 

1.  Physical  Training. 

2.  Oral  and  Written  Expression,  Reading,  Language 
and  Literature. 

3.  History. 

4.  The  Industrial  Arts. 

5.  Geography  and  Nature  Study. 

6.  Music. 

7.  Numbers. 

This  classification  does  not  carry  with  it  the  complete 
breaking  up  of  the  curriculum  into  seven  distinct  and 
clear-cut  bodies  of  subject-matter.  Indeed  all  subjects 
may  finally  be  reduced  to  one, — the  study  of  life  itself. 
The  subjects  of  instruction,  as  presented  hi  this  seven- 
fold classification,  should  comprehend  all  that  it  is  essential 
to  teach  the  pupil  of  primary  grade.  The  subjects  are  not 
divided  sharply,  the  one  from  the  other,  since  physical 
training,  for  instance,  may  find  a  place  hi  the  class  hi 
music;  and  expression,  whether  oral  or  written,  properly 
should  be  taught  throughout  the  entire  group.  Then,  too, 
subjects  frequently  given  a  special  place  in  the  program, 
spelling,  for  example,  will  be  taught  where  and  under 
such  circumstances  as  may  seem  most  fitting,  according 
to  the  necessities  of  a  given  situation. 

The  working  out  of  an  elementary  school  curriculum 


1 64  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

is  a  matter  to  be  treated  in  a  subsequent  volume.  In  the 
present  chapter  will  be  found  suggestions  on  teaching 
only  two  of  the  seven  school  subjects, — physical  training 
and  the  industrial  arts.  It  has  been  deemed  wise  to  make 
brief  reference  to  these  subjects  here,  not  only  on  account 
of  their  great  worth  and  because  they  are  indispensable 
to  the  complete  growth  of  the  pupil,  but  also,  owing  to 
the  very  nature  and  newness  of  the  subjects  themselves, 
because  few  teachers  are  so  conversant  with  them  as  to 
be  able  to  present  them  to  classes. 

(a)  PHYSICAL  TRAINING 

By  physical  training  I  mean  all  forms  of  bodily  activity 
that  look  toward  healthful  exercise,  whether 
workcfom        carried  on  under  the  name  of  gymnastics, 
prehended        calisthenics,  physical  culture,  Delsarte,  ath- 
letics, recreation  exercises,  or  any  other  title; 
whether  the  work  be  Swedish  system  or  German  system; 
whether  given  in  a  gymnasium  under  a  special  teacher,  or 
in  the  grade  room  by  the  grade  teacher;  whether  listed  in 
the  program  as  a  regular  subject,  or  introduced  by  the 
teacher  at  a  point  where  relaxation  and  change  of  occu- 
pation and  position  are  necessary. 
I  am  convinced  that  physical  training  and  athletics  are 
of  vital  import  in  both  elementary  and  sec- 
ondary  schools.    Had  I  the  temerity  to  clas- 
sify  tne  school  studies  upon  a  relative  value 

Schools  J 

basis,  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  development 
of  the  body  toward  healthy,  vigorous,  physical  activity, 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  165 

would  stand  out  as  occupying  first  place.  Even  the  in- 
culcation of  moral  standards  depends  in  no  small  measure 
upon  the  physical  nature,  and  certainly  when  dealing  with 
grade  pupils,  physical  training  must  take  its  place  side 
by  side  with  those  essential  humanities,  typified  by  music 
and  oral  expression. 

The  time  has  long  since  past  when  to  be  educated 
implies  frail  physique  and  scant  health.  Time  was  when 
pale  cheeks  and  stooped  shoulders  were  synonymous  with 
culture  and  learning.  To  become  educated  was  to  for- 
swear the  vulgar  occupations  of  life.  A  peculiar  con- 
struction indeed  was  placed  upon  those  lines  "For  'tis 
the  mind  that  makes  the  body  rich."  We  are  coming  to 
see,  more  and  more,  that  the  sound  mind  in  the  sound 
body  is  a  condition  more  to  be  sought  than  that  of  the 
sound  mind  in  the  unsound  body,  and  that  the  first-named 
condition  is  much  more  easily  realized  than  the  second. 
We  shall  agree,  I  think,  upon  the  necessity  for,  and  the 

value  of,  physical  training  in  school.    If  such 

fecessityfor     training  is  to  perform  in  any  adequate  man- 

zation  ner  its  full  function,  it  must  be  systematized. 

Systematization  implies  supervision.  By  sys- 
tematization  I  do  not  mean  uniformity  or  over-curriculari- 
zation.  Physical  training  in  school  must  be  worked  out 
upon  the  basis  of  relative  values,,  and  taught,  not  as  busy 
work,  but  as  a  well-defined  subject.  The  work  must  not 
appear  as  abstract  exercises  but  as  concrete  problems. 
In  schools  where  the  pupils  have  the  advantage  afforded 
by  a  well-equipped  gymnasium,  and  what  is  of  more 


1  66  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

importance,  a  well-equipped  teacher,  the  problem  is  not 

so   difficult.     It  is,   however,  in   the  grade 

Problems          school  where   there   is   no   gymnasium,  no 

Confronting  .  OJ 

theun-  special  room  to  which  the  pupils   may   be 

school*3*1  taken  for  physical  training,  that  we  find  our 
serious  problem.  The  nature  of  the  course 
of  study,  the  pressure  of  other  tasks,  the  unprepared 
condition  of  the  teacher,  and  too  often,  a  lack  of  sympathy 
in  the  work,  all  conspire  to  render  the  physical  training 
a  neglected  subject. 

The  aisles  between  the  seats,  while  narrow,  are  usually 
of  such  width  as  to  allow  for  certain  free 
movements  of  the  arms  and  head  and  even 


carrying  on      of  the  legs,  so  far  as  bending  the  knees  is 

the  Work 

concerned.  In  comparatively  small  classes, 
the  pupils  may  be  so  arranged  as  not  to  hamper  one 
another  in  their  movements.  The  prime  object  of  the 
exercises  during  study  time,  is  to  counteract  the  evil 
effects  resulting  from  unhealthful  bodily  positions,  from 
stooping  of  the  shoulders  and  cramping  of  the  chest. 
The  mere  fact  of  allowing  pupils  to  straighten  up  is  in 
itself  essential  and  is  a  rest.  Elaborate  groups  of  exer- 
cises are  not  so  important  as  that  the  pupils  be  permitted 
a  supply  of  fresh  air,  and  be  taught  to  breathe  properly 
so  that  the  lungs  may  be  filled. 

Movements  of  the  hands,  the  arms,  the  head,  the  trunk, 
the  legs  and  feet  may  be  carried  on  in  the  aisles.  Other 
exercises  may  be  taken  in  halls  or  passageways,  prefer- 
ably in  the  open  air,  if  the  weather  will  permit  and  the 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  167 

distance  be  not  too  great.  If  a  hall  or  passageway  is  at 
the  disposal  of  the  class,  wands,  dumb-bells  and  Indian 
clubs  may  be  used.  Walking  and  running  exercises  are 
particularly  good;  and  the  proper  breathing  exercises 
should  always  accompany  them. 

The  time  for  change  and  recreation  will  of  course  vary. 

Since,  however,  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to 

Questions  of      ~jve  other  than  class  instruction,  the  teacher 

Administra- 
tion must  have  a  specific  time  in  the  day,  both 

forenoon  and  afternoon,  perhaps,  to  give  to 
physical  training.  This  is  particularly  true  when  dealing 
with  primary  pupils.  If  a  special  time  is  given  on  the 
program  for  such  drill,  care  must  be  exercised  that  it  be 
sufficiently  long  before  or  after  the  lunch  or  intermission 
hour.  If  one  room  or  hallway  is  used  by  several  grades, 
each  class  making  use  of  the  same  equipment,  then  the 
program  must  be  so  adjusted  as  to  prevent  conflicts. 
Loose,  comfortable  clothing  and  full  deep  breathing 

must  be  carefully  looked  to  by  the  teacher, 
conditions  High  collars  and  tight  belts  are  a  hindrance 

to  breathing.  A  few  moments  of  well-planned 
work  is  all  that  is  necessary  at  any  one  time.  The  teacher 
himself  must  be  master  of  all  the  work  he  attempts  to 

give.  He  must  not  ask  the  pupils  to  per- 
The  Teacher  form  exercises  that  he  cannot  himself  accom- 

to  be  Master 

of  the  work       plish.    He  must  study  the  subject  as  he  would 

study  the  history  or  English  lessons,  that  he 

may  have  at  his  command  such  exercises  as  are  needed 

at  a  particular  time.    This  statement  bears  out  what  was 


1  68  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

said  earlier  regarding  the  systematizing  of  the  work.    It 
must  not  be  haphazard. 

I  am,  of  course,  alive  to  the  objection  that  will  be  raised 
by  some  at  this  point.  In  dealing  with  young 
pupils,  it  will  be  affirmed,  physical  exercise 


tionare  wi\\  come  spontaneously.     Furnish  the  im- 

Necessary 

petus  or  rather  the  proper  conditions  for  exer- 
cise and  the  pupils  will  naturally  engage  in  the  correct 
bodily  movements.  This  is  doubtless  true  within  certain 
limits,  but  as  well  say,  however,  that  a  child  can  be  taught 
to  study  by  placing  a  book  in  his  hand  and  enjoining  him 
to  study.  Undirected  effort  on  the  part  of  the  pupils 
results,  in  this  instance,  in  what  we  find  every  day,  —  girls 
and  boys  in  high  schools,  yes,  and  the  majority  of  those 
around  us  in  the  grown-up  world,  who  have  never  learned 
the  real  art  of  study.  Direction  and  supervision  must  be 
given  physical  training  and  athletics  to  make  them  effective. 
If  apparatus  be  used,  whether  in  the  school  or  in  the 

gymnasium,  the  lighter  forms  or  work  are 
Overstrain  preferable.  Pupils  should  be  given  a  thorough 
Avoided  physical  examination,  to  ascertain  their  needs 

and  weaknesses,  before  they  are  permitted  to 
engage  in  heavy  work  calling  for  exertion  or  strain.  It 
happens  frequently  that  the  discovery  is  made  too  late, 
that  a  certain  form  of  exercise  indulged  in  has  had  the 
effect  of  tearing  down  rather  than  of  building  up  the  con- 
stitution. This  brings  us  to  the  athletic  side  of  our  sub- 
ject, athletics  being  included  under  the  heading,  physical 
training.  In  athletics  and  heavy  gymnastic  work,  super- 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  169 

vision  is  especially  necessary  and  such  supervision  should 
be  scientific,  close  and  careful. 

The  athletic  side  of  physical  training  may  be  classified 

under  two  heads.     Under  one  of  these  will 

Athletics :  a      fa^  most  of  fae  work  now  being  given  in  the 

Double  Clas- 
sification         grades,  and  some  of  that  given  in  the  high 

school  as  well,  both  in  and  out  of  doors,  and 
in  the  gymnasium,  if  one  is  provided.  Such  work  is  likely 
to  be  of  a  general  nature,  and  we  may  call  it  general 
athletics.  Over  against  this  we  find  certain  grade  work 
and  practically  all  of  that  given  in  the  high  school  at  the 
present  time  falling  in  a  class  which  we  shall  speak  of  as 
competitive  or  professional  athletics. 
The  work  spoken  of  as  general  should  be  general  in  the 

sense  that  all  students  participate  in  one  or 
Argument        another  phase  of  exercise.    It  is  not  enough 

for  General 

Athletics  that  certain  select  students  take  part.  All 
must  have  the  advantage  of  the  training  of- 
fered. Here  we  have  one  of  the  strong  arguments  against 
competitive  forms  of  athletics  in  the  grades.  Even  in  the 
elementary  school  the  games  that  are  competitive  in  char- 
acter are  put  upon  such  a  professional  basis,  and  so  very 
few  take  part  in  them,  that  the  true  element  of  sport 
is  eliminated.  The  fact  that  only  a  small  number  can 
ever  hope  to  qualify  for  or  serve  upon  any 
team  (tnat  i§>  be  permitted  to  play  in  con- 
Means  spe-  tests),  owing  to  the  vast  amount  of  practice 

cialization 

and  technique  necessary,  excludes  the  great 
mass  of  boys;  and  they  suffer  in  consequence.    This  goes 


1  70  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

to  prove  the  necessity  for  some  form  of  supervision  that 
shall  make  it  possible  for  all  to  be  benefited.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  very  ones  who  are  by  nature  and  training 
fitted  to  enter  competitive  feats  are  those  who  least  need 
athletic  work  in  the  school.  The  moral  effects  of  the  pro- 
fessionalizing of  athletics  is  peculiarly  bad.  In  general 
forms  of  work,  such  as  track  and  field  athletics,  the  re- 
sults are  much  less  objectionable.  The  other  school  work 
suffers  when  the  pupil  engages  in  competitive 
or  professional  forms  of  athletics;  and  what- 


Professionai-  ever  effect  this  may  have  upon  college  boys, 
it  is  not  to  be  desired  in  the  elementary  or 
high  school  student.  Not  only  is  a  disproportionate 
amount  of  time  necessary  in  such  training,  to  the  end  that 
the  other  school  work  suffers  unduly  in  consequence,  but 
the  mind  of  the  student  is  so  continuously  upon  his  game 
as  to  render  him  incapable  of  concentrating  upon  anything 
outside  of  it.  Then,  too,  so  much  stress  is  laid  upon 
winning,  that  trickery  and  dishonesty  are,  in  some  quar- 
ters, the  rule  rather  than  the  exception. 

In  order  to  bring  out  more  clearly  this  matter  of  the 
danger  of  over-emphasizing  in  competitive  athletics,  and 
the  necessity  for  careful  supervision,  note  the  following 
facts.  The  data  were  not  gathered  through  the  use  of 
a  set  of  brass  instruments,  but  come  directly  through 
the  teachers  who  have  had  to  do  with  the  students  in 
question.  The  data  cover  the  entire  school  year,  and 
the  boys  whose  cases  are  cited  were  under  a  consid- 
erable degree  of  supervision,  so  that  those  situated 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  171 

less   fortunately  would  not   appear  to  as  good  advan- 
tage. 

The  records  of  sixty-two  high  school  boys  are  shown. 
Twenty-one  of  the  sixty-two  engaged  in  some 
form  of  track  athletics;  twenty-five  in  football; 
Track  and        an(j  nineteen  in  baseball.     There  are  three 

Field  Ath- 
letics, Base-      duplicates.     Upon  these  pupils  eleven  teach- 

FcwtbaLi  ers  rePort>  being  an  average  of  five  and  five- 

tenths  reports  for  each  student.  As  symbols 
indicative  of  the  quality  of  work  done,  the  sign  +  (plus) 
means  high;  G,  signifies  good;  M,  medium,  and  —  (minus), 
low  or  failed.  I  count  all  —  signs  after  a  letter,  such  as 
M— ,  at  the  full  value  of  the  letter,  thus  giving  the  pupil 
the  advantage.  There  are  four  chances  to  one  that  a 
given  student  will  be  M—  or  G—  rather  than  M+  or 
G+.  In  percentages,  M  is  75;  G  75  to  85;  and  +  in- 
cludes all  markings  above  85;  while  a  student  is  low  or 
fails,  according  as  his  record  varies  below  75.  The  three 
following  tables  show  the  standing  of  the  entire  sixty-two: 

Scholarship  and  Deportment  Records  Combined 
Percentage  of  students  Record 

9-74%  + 

39.87%  G 

28.70%  M 

22.52%  - 

Scholarship  Record  Only 

rcentage  of  students  Record 

6.07%     + 

26.52%     G 

38-00%     M 

29-39%     - 


172  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

Deportment  Record  Only 

Percentage  0}  students                                                           Record 
20.47%     + 

•       3°-9S%  + G 

26 . 66%  + M 

21-76%     - 

Note  that  the  chances  are  nearly  i  to  4  that  a  student 
will  be  —  in  class  standing  or  deportment,  when  the  two 
are  taken  together,  and  3  to  10  that  he  will  be  —  in  class 
standing  alone.  Note  also  that  the  +  record  in  class 
standing  is  lowered  when  the  deportment  is  not  included. 

The  two  following  tables  show  the  standing  of  the 
twenty-one  boys  who  engaged  hi 

Track  and  Field  Athletics 

Scholarship: — 11.60% +  (Approximately  one    in 

45 . 53% G      nine  are  high.) 

29.46% M 

13.39% ~~  (Approximately   one    in 

seven  are  low  or  have 

failed.) 

Deportment: —  19.29% +   (i  to  5) 

62.28%....G 

12.28% M 

6.14%....-   (i  to  16) 

Notice  here  that  the  class  record  for  -  -  students  is 
13.39%  f°r  track,  as  against  29.38%  for  all  athletics. 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  173 

The  odds  are  twice  as  great  that  a  failure  will  result  when 
considering  football  or  baseball,  as  when  considering  field 
work  alone.  The  chances  are  3^  to  i  in  favor  of  track 
boys  as  against  the  combined  work,  that  a  failure  will  be 
made. 

Baseball 

Scholarship: —    2.53% +  (ito  40) 

17.94%.. ..G 
37.97%.. ..M 

40.50%....-  (2  to  5) 

Deportment: —     7 .31% +  (i  to  14) 

51.21%.. ..G 
18.29%.. ..M 

23.17% (i  to  4) 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  record  of  —  for  track  students 
was  13.39%;  f°r  baseball,  it  was  40.50%,  or  a  probability 
of  3  to  i  that  the  baseball  student  ranges  lower  than  the 
field  student.  The  chances  of  —  deportment  are  i  to  16 
in  track,  and  i  to  4  hi  baseball.  The  figures  show  29.46% 
M  hi  track,  and  45.53%  G;  as  against  18.29%  M  in 
baseball,  and  51.21%  G. 

Football 

Scholarship:—    3 .05% +   (i  to  33) 

13.94% G 

43.5o%....M 
39.69%....-  (2  to  5) 


174  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

Deportment: —    9-37% +   (i  to  10) 

44.53%....  G 
26.55%. ...M 
19.53%....-  (i  to  5) 

The  probability  of  —  in  scholarship  for  football  and 
baseball  boys  is  the  same,  2  to  5 ;  in  track  events  it  is  i  to  7, 
meaning  that  nearly  three  chances  exist  for  —  work  among 
football  as  against  track  boys.  In  deportment  there  is 
practically  no  difference.  There  is  only  one  chance  in 
four  in  favor  of  a  +  mark  with  football,  as  compared 
with  track  students. 

In  football  only  one  boy  out  of  every  four  is  M  in  de- 
portment, and  less  than  half  are  G.  In  baseball,  one  out 
of  every  five  is  M  and  every  other  one  G,  while  in  field 
events  one  out  of  every  seven  is  M  and  three-fourths  are  G. 
The  standards  of  scholarship  are  lower  in  football,  there 
being  only  one-third  of  the  number  of  good  students  that 
are  found  in  track  athletics  and  only  seven-ninths  as  many 
as  in  baseball. 

An  added  significance  is  given  these  statistics  when  it 
is  understood  that  the  records  of  the  majority  of  the  base- 
ball and  football  students  was  considerably  higher  during 
the  months  preceding  and  immediately  following  their 
extensive  practice  than  while  under  training. 

What  has  all  this  to  do  with  supervision  ?  It  has  every- 
thing to  do  with  it.  No  one  will  contend  that  athletics  are 
not  essential  to  the  best  development  of  the  elementary 
and  high  school  lad.  The  showing  I  have  made,  how- 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  175 

ever,  is  probably  much  better  than  would  be  found  the 
country  over. 

Our  athletics  must  be  so  supervised  that  we  shall:  — 

First,  provide  some  form  of  physical  training  for 
each  pupil  in  the  school,  and,  second,  present  work  that 
shall  increase  rather  than  dimmish  the  standards  of  effi- 
ciency in  scholarship,  and  raise  instead  of  lower  moral 
ideals. 

While  investigating  this  topic  in  England,  some  years 
ago,  I  was  told  by  competent  authority  that  competitive 
athletics,  particularly  football,  was  the  life  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge.  That  to  exclude  football,  as  some  suggested, 
would  result  in  the  certain  decline  of  these  universities. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  there  are  those  of  us  who  believe  that 
the  business  of  our  American  elementary  and  high  schools 
is  to  produce  men  and  women  of  mental  efficiency  and 
moral  stability,  as  well  as  those  of  strong  physique,  and 
we  propose  to  do  our  part,  though  professionalism  be 
barred  from  our  schools;  and  we  insist  upon  conscien- 
tious supervision  of  athletics  by  those  who  know  the 
dangers  into  which  young  students  are  easily  led. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  teacher  then  to  see  that  the 
best  possible  conditions  are  present,  looking 
toward  the  physical  welfare  of  the  pupils. 


for  Good          The  following  suggestions  are  offered  :  — 

First,  the  size  and  height  of  the  seat  must 
be  adjusted  to  the  pupil  that  he  may  not  be  cramped  in 
his  work. 
Second,  side  and  cross  lights  must  be  excluded  from 


176  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

the  room;  the  light  should  enter  from  above  or  fall  over 
the  left  shoulder. 

Third,  an  abundance  of  pure  air  (cold  air  is  not  neces- 
sarily pure),  especially  when  the  pupils  are  engaging  in 
physical  exercise,  is  an  essential. 

Fourth,  to  counteract  bad  bodily  positions  and  give 
change  and  rest  to  the  student,  a  carefully  planned  and 
worked-out  series  of  light  gymnastic  exercises  is  desirable, 
attention  being  given  to  proper  breathing. 

Out  of  door  gymnastics  or  games  will  result  most  bene- 
ficially to  the  student  and  to  the  conduct  of 
influence  of  ^  schooi  if  the  teacher  enters  heartily  into 

the  Teacher 

intheGamea  the  spirit  of  the  exercise.  He  need  not,  nor 
should  he,  dominate  or  dictate  in  the  sports, 
but  the  personality  of  the  teacher  is  as  necessary  out  of 
doors  as  it  is  in  the  class  room.  He  can  suggest  such 
sports  and  exercises  as  he  thinks  most  beneficial  at  a  | 
given  time,  being  cautious  lest  he  rob  the  pupils  of  the 
power  of  initiative;  he  can  offer  advice  in  case  of  dis- 
putes, lend  judgment  where  a  decision  is  needed,  or  serve 
as  arbitrator  where  serious  factional  differences  arise. 
Moreover,  upon  the  playground  as  nowhere  else,  may 
the  teacher  find  his  opportunity  to  study  each  individual 
pupil,  to  learn  his  likes  and  dislikes,  his  strengths  and 
weaknesses,  and  in  no  place  better  than  in  games  de- 
manding physical  endurance  and  manual  skill,  can  the 
lessons  of  honor,  of  equity,  and  of  kindness  be  inculcated. 
Much  more  attention  should  be  given  physical  training 
than  it  is  receiving  in  the  schools  to-day;  and  not  only 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  177 

should  it  occupy  more  of  the  school  time,  but  more 
serious  consideration  must  be  given  to  the  kinds  of  work 
undertaken. 

(&)  THE  INDUSTRIAL  ARTS 

Having  dealt  in  a  previous  chapter  with  the  theory  and 
purpose  of  the  industrial  arts,  it  will  only  be  necessary 
to  suggest  here  some  of  the  ways  in  which  the  various 
materials  of  the  manual  training  room  may  be  used 
throughout  the  elementary  school. 

Clay  Modeling,  Tiles,  Pottery 

It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  the  average  teacher  will  over- 
emphasize the  value  of  clay  work.  The  clay,  though 
easily  handled,  at  the  same  time  offers  sufficient  resistance 
to  bring  into  use  the  more  fundamental  muscles.  It 
makes  for  freedom  of  expression  in  a  variety  of  ways;  it 
lends  itself  to  form  appreciation  (the  three  dimensions), 
and  it  develops  an  appreciation  of  lines  of  beauty  and 
correct  conceptions  of  space  relations.  The  study  of 
animal  and  plant  forms,  topography,  history,  customs, 
occupations,  the  development  of  art,  ideas  of  building 
construction  all  are  made  more  effective  through  the  use 
of  clay  modeling  and  pottery.  Many  industries  may  be 
taken  up  in  a  simple  way  in  connection  with  the  work, 
thus  bringing  the  pupils  nearer  to  the  life  of  the  primitive 
peoples  and  leading  to  an  appreciation  of  the  advances 
that  have  been  made. 

In  clay  work  the  process  involved  is  mainly  that  of  build- 
ing up  and  is  thus  constructive  rather  than  destructive. 

Standards — 12 


178  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

In  order  to  prepare  clay  properly  for  use  in  the  class 
room,  some  sort  of  a  trough  or  a  tub  is  necessary.  One 
can  be  made  readily;  a  heavy  packing  box  of  convenient 
size  and  shape  can  be  obtained;  or  a  small  fiber  or  gal- 
vanized iron  tub  may  be  purchased.  If  a  wooden  box 
is  used,  it  should  be  zinc  lined.  The  clay  may  be  had 
dry  from  the  potters'  works  or  from  a  kindergarten  supply 
house.  Place  the  clay  in  a  tub  with  about  one-third  its 
volume  of  water.  After  standing  thus  for  several  hours, 
it  should  be  thoroughly  mixed  with  the  hands,  squeezing 
out  all  lumps.  If,  when  well  mixed,  it  is  found  to  be  too 
dry  to  work  easily,  that  is,  if  the  surface  cracks  when 
being  molded  in  the  hands,  add  a  little  water,  remix  and 
mold  into  balls  of  convenient  size.  If  too  wet  when 
mixed,  a  little  new,  dry  clay  may  be  added,  and  thor- 
oughly worked  into  the  mass  until  it  sticks  but  slightly  to 
the  hands. 

The  great  objection  raised  to  the  use  of  clay  is  that  it 
must  be  handled  again  and  again  and  is  thus  rendered 
uncleanly.  Where  practicable,  it  would  be  well  to  have 
the  clay  used  once  only,  although  there  is  scant  proof  that 
clay,  properly  treated,  is  injurious  to  the  skin.  Its  greatest 
point  of  disadvantage  has  been  the  tendency  to  soil  desk 
and  books,  and  the  difficulty  hi  keeping  and  preparing 
it  for  use. 

Basketry  and  Weaving 

Weaving  and  textile  work  is  well  adapted  to  the  ele- 
mentary grades.  The  materials  are  large,  and  detail  is  not 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  179 

demanded  in  simple  forms.  Opportunity  is  furnished 
for  the  construction  of  a  crude  loom,  thus  making  possible 
not  only  the  weaving  of  rugs  or  blankets,  but  the  study 
of  more  complex  machinery  adapted  to  the  same  purpose. 
Because  it  is  a  material  used,  cotton  fiber  or  wool  should 
be  studied  and  its  development  traced  from  the  raw  state 
through  the  various  processes  to  the  completed  article. 
A  splendid  basis  of  comparison  between  old  and  new 
methods  is  furnished  the  pupil. 

Through  the  study  of  weaving,  whether  in  dealing  with 
a  basket  or  a  blanket,  the  child  is  enabled  to  reach  back 
into  the  past,  note  the  progress  that  has  been  made,  and 
appreciate  to  some  extent  his  position  in  the  present. 

Rushes,  flags,  willows,  coarse  yarns,  rags,  raffia,  reeds, 
splints,  all  are  well  suited  for  elementary  work.  Where 
they  can  be  obtained,  the  sweet  grasses  used  by  the  In- 
dians are  very  desirable.  Through  the  making  of  useful 
forms  the  pupil's  initiative  is  developed,  and  almost  all 
phases  of  school  work  can  be  touched  upon,  and  thus 
many  industries  and  occupations  become  understandable. 
Children  should  be  encouraged  to  collect  such  native 
material  as  may  be  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  home  or 
school,  care  being  taken  not  to  confine  the  processes  too 
closely  to  the  making  of  baskets,  as  many  other  articles 
of  use  may  be  produced. 

In  this  work  is  found  a  good  basis  for  the  teaching  of 
design,  as  here  the  more  fundamental  principles  may  be 
learned  and  applied.  Space  breaking  and  filling;  the 
meaning  of  balance,  harmony  and  rhythm  as  applied  to 


i8o  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

line,  form  and  tone;  composition  and  space  and  form 
relations,  all  may  be  taken  up  and  made  clear. 

Paper  and  Cardboard 

These  materials,  in  whatever  form,  are  easily  obtain- 
able and  quite  inexpensive.  If  properly  handled  there  is 
very  little  waste.  They,  too,  are  easy  of  manipulation, 
although  the  work  may  be  made  such  as  to  tax  the  physical 
abilities  sufficiently. 

Paper  and  cardboard  may  be  put  to  a  variety  of  uses 
in  the  making  of  useful  articles.  Their  character  renders 
them  clean  and  tidy,  and  hence  applicable  for  use  in  any 
schoolroom  or  at  home.  They  may  be  manipulated,  also, 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  by  any  grade  teacher. 

In  the  use  of  these  materials  graphic  art  has  a  strong 
place.  Objects  must  be  thought  out,  planned  and  de- 
signed, thus  bringing  in  the  constructional  side  of  drawing 
as  well  as  free  sketching.  Through  the  study  of  form,  of 
ornamental  design,  a  feeling  for  the  artistic  is  developed. 
Color  blending  and  harmony,  so  essential  and  attractive 
to  young  pupils,  is  largely  assisted  through  the  selection 
and  arrangement  of  materials. 

In  the  first  and  second  grades,  the  folding,  cutting  and 
pasting,  should  as  formerly  have  a  place,  but  to  my  mind 
a  less  important  one.  Weaving  with  paper  need  not  be 
so  prominent,  since  we  have  other  and  more  natural  media 
for  this  purpose.  Folding  of  flat  forms  to  produce  geo- 
metrical shapes,  square,  oblong,  etc.;  cutting  and  pasting 
of  designs;  color  blending;  free  cutting  from  manila  or 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  181 

detail  papers,  of  forms  such  as  animals,  natural  objects, 
fruits,  and  doll's  clothing;  cutting,  folding  and  pasting  to 
produce  play-  or  doll-house  furniture,  chairs,  table,  cra- 
dle, bed;  making  of  envelopes,  valentines,  boxes,  tags  and 
labels; — these  are  some  of  the  ways  in  which  the  work 
may  be  carried  on  in  the  lower  grades. 

In  the  second  year  more  difficult  pieces  of  furniture 
may  be  constructed  from  heavy  manila  paper,  and  light- 
weight cover  stock  may  in  some  cases  be  used  to  produce 
special  individual  projects  for  use  at  home  or  at  school, — 
wall-pockets,  cornucopias,  clock  faces,  note-paper  covers, 
calendar  backs,  seed  envelopes,  weather  charts  and  flags, 
wind  gauges,  etc.  It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  the  field 
offered  in  these  grades  is  -mainly  that  of  illustration  or 
representation,  such  processes  being  given  attention  as 
will  assist  hi  the  social  phases  of  the  child's  existence. 

The  opportunities  are  greater  and  the  limitations  are 
less  when  dealing  with  third  and  fourth  grades,  than  else- 
where in  school,  perhaps.  Here  we  have  an  extended 
field  for  the  making  of  typical  objects  of  beauty  and  of 
use.  The  pupils  can  deal  with  the  more  substantial 
cover  papers  and  the  light-weight  bristol  boards  or  tag 
stocks,  while  the  age  and  ability  of  the  boys  and  girls  here 
represented,  would,  for  the  most  part,  prohibit  them  from 
engaging  in  some  of  the  more  heroic  hand-work  processes. 
In  these  grades,  also,  the  work  may  be  illustrative  when 
opportunity  offers;  house  construction,  parts  of  utensils, 
small  apparatus  and  machines  for  nature  study.  In 
schools  where  a  somewhat  varied  equipment  is  found,  a 


i82  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

variety  of  work  may  be  done, — cutting,  mounting  and 
filing  of  pictures  for  class  work,  making  trays  for  speci- 
mens, boxes  for  the  pupil's  belongings  at  home  or  at 
school,  picture  frames  of  various  forms  and  decoration, 
napkin  rings,  calendar  backs  and  supports,  memorandum 
and  program  cards,  portfolios  for  school  exercises,  en- 
velopes, note-box  covers,  handkerchief  cases,  etc.  These 
are  a  few  in  the  multiplicity  of  objects  that  offer  them- 
selves and  afford  almost  endless  variety  in  design.  Here 
there  is  a  constant  opportunity  for  the  study  of  color 
blending  in  the  selection  of  materials,  for  representation 
through  drawings,  for  the  conservation  of  material,  and 
for  appreciation  of  the  artistic  in  form  and  proportion. 

In  grades  above  the  fourth,  the  work  may  be  in  ad- 
vance of  that  already  spoken  of.  In  addition,  heavier 
cover  and  bristol  stocks,  and  rice,  straw  and  pulp  boards 
of  various  weights  can  be  introduced.  The  rice  or  straw 
boards  are  perhaps  better  suited  to  some  work  than  is  the 
pulp  board,  as  they  do  not  soil  readily.  These  materials 
are  quite  substantial,  many  objects  constructed  from 
them  serving  their  purpose  as  fully  as  though  made  from 
wood.  Here  again  simple  and  cheap  apparatus  to  be 
used  in  connection  with  the  natural  science  work  and 
mathematics  can  be  designed  and  made.  Useful  and 
artistic  objects,  if  presenting  a  dull  and  uninteresting 
surface,  may  be  covered  with  lithograph,  embossed  or 
fancy  paper,  thus  producing  a  finished  effect.  In  the 
selection  of  these  papers,  which  are  of  a  variety  of  design, 
a  considerable  degree  of  taste  is  developed.  Heavier  and 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  183 

more  serviceable  articles,  some  of  them  of  the  same  nature 
as  those  made  in  previous  grades,  may  be  mentioned:— 
picture  and  mirror  frames;  boxes  with  hinged  covers  and 
permanent  fastenings  for  paper,  envelopes,  gloves,  etc.; 
note-  and  text-book  covers;  bill,  letter  and  picture  files; 
scrapbooks  and  card  cases;  portfolios  for  drawings,  writ- 
ten exercises  and  photographs.  This  work  will  lead  to 
elementary  book  binding,  which  will  not  be  touched  upon 
here. 

Metal  Work:  Bent  Iron,  Metal  Spinning,  Copper  and 
Brass  Work 

The'  metal  processes  should  find  a  place  hi  the  upper 
grades  only.  Bent  ironwork  offers  large  opportunities 
for  design,  although  from  an  industrial  or  commercial 
standpoint  it  has  little  value.  Candlesticks,  picture 
frames,  knife  rests  and  lamp  shades  are  suggestive  of  the 
use  to  which  bent  iron  may  be  put.  In  dealing  with  the 
metal  crafts,  the  way  is  open  for  the  application  of  art 
principles.  Boxes,  caskets,  cups,  bowls,  vases;  the  de- 
signing, shaping  and  making  of  locks,  fastenings  and 
hinges;  articles  made  in  combination  with  wood  or  leather: 
these  processes  may  well  find  a  place  in  the  higher  grades. 

Wood 

In  a  previous  chapter  (Purpose  of  the  Industrial  Arts), 
suggestions  were  made  as  to  the  woodwork  processes 
applicable  in  the  elementary  school.  Simple  and  useful 
articles  may  be  made  with  few  tools  in  the  regular  grade 


184  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

room,  the  desk  tops  being  provided  with  some  sort  of 
cover,  such  as  is  desirable  for  cardboard  work.  Cutting 
in  thin  wood  and  whittling  with  the  knife  may  be  carried 
on  to  some  extent,  while  rough  construction,  such  as  the 
making  of  utensils,  tools,  furniture  and  illustrative  ma- 
terial may  have  a  place  in  the  lower  grades  under  the 
regular  teacher.  Bench  work  proper  should  not  be  given 
below  the  fifth  grade.  It  is  properly  confined  in  most 
localities  to  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  thoroughly  qualified 
teacher  will  prepare  a  course  of  work,  adapted  as  nearly 
as  may  be  to  the  needs  of  his  students.  He  will  then 
make  this  course  so  elastic  as  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  individual  pupil,  allowing  full  play  for  initiative 
and  for  the  designing  and  construction  of  such  articles 
as  may  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  individual. 

THESES 

1.  It  is  a  fallacious  doctrine  that  holds  that  the  child 
should  be  expected  to  master  or  even  taste  of  all  branches 
of  knowledge. 

2.  Much  sentiment  attaches  to  the  education  of  time 
past;  it  had  points  of  vantage  over  that  of  the  present  day, 
but  would  not  at  all  fit  present  needs  and  conditions. 

3.  The  basis  for  a  rational  course  of  study  would  seem 
to  include 

(1)  Physical  Training. 

(2)  Oral  and  Written  Expression,  Reading,  Language 

and  Literature. 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION  185 

(3)  History. 

(4)  The  Industrial  Arts. 

(5)  Geography  and  Nature  Study. 

(6)  Music. 

(7)  Numbers. 

4.  A  strong  body  is  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  a  com- 
plete education,  and  all  schools  should  give  attention  to 
physical  training. 

5.  The  problems  of  the  equipped  and  of  the  unequipped 
school,  and  suggestions  made   on  meeting  and  solving 
them. 

6.  Absolute  necessity  for  careful  supervision  and  ad- 
ministration of  the  work. 

7.  A  comparison  drawn  between  athletics  for  general 
purposes  and  the   more   restricted   competitive  or  pro- 
fessional form. 

8.  Comparative  data  as  to  scholarship  of  students  en- 
gaging in  football,  baseball,  and  field  and  track  athletics. 

9.  Practical  suggestions  on  the  place  of  the  Industrial 
Arts  and  the  application  of  the  various  media, — clay, 
textiles,  weaving  materials,  paper  and  cardboard,  metal, 
wood. 

TOPICS   FOR  STUDY 

1.  Apply  the  familiar  phrase,  "Good  old  days,"  to  the 
schools  of  our  grandfathers  and  determine  its  force  and 
significance  in  this  connection. 

2.  Trace  the  growth  of  the  curriculum  in  the  United 
States  during  the  last  fifty  years. 


186  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

3.  Total  up  the  advantages  offered  in  school  to  the 
city  bred  boy  and  the  country  boy;  the  opportunities 
offered  outside  the  school. 

4.  Study  the  curricula  of  ten  typical  school  systems  in 
cities  of  25,000  to  100,000  population,  taking  each  of  the 
eight  grades  in  turn,  and  determine  the  amount  of  time 
given  each  of  the  seven  divisions  of  study  as  listed  on 
page  163.    Show: 

(1)  Number  of  minutes  per  week  devoted  to  each 

subject  in  each  grade.     (Same  for  each  city 
chosen.) 

(2)  Total  number  of  minutes  per  week  devoted  hi 

all  grades,  to  each  separate  subject. 

(3)  Total  number  of  minutes  in  all  grades  in  ten 

cities  combined,  and  arrange  seven  subjects  in 
order  of  amount  of  time  given. 

5.  Consider  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  hav- 
ing special  teachers  in  physical  training,  manual  training, 
music,   drawing,   domestic  science,   domestic   art.     The 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  having  this  work  done 
by  the  regular  teachers. 

6.  Should  the  competitive  idea  as  applied  to  school 
studies  and  activities  have  an  increasing  or  a  decreasing 
place  as  the  child  progresses  in  school  ? 

Compare  our  own  schools  in  this  regard  with  those  of 
England,  Germany  and  France. 

7.  What  is  the  relation  between  a  closer  supervision  of 
school  tasks  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  the  elimination 
of  personality  on  the  part  of  the  student  ? 


THE  CURRICULUM  IN  OPERATION 


187 


CONSULT 

BARRY  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Room,  chap.  14. 

CHAMBERLAIN,    Course  of  Study  in  Geography. 
J.  F.  How  We  Are  Clothed. 

How  We  Are  Fed. 
How  We  Are  Sheltered. 
How  We  Travel. 

CRAPSY  Some  Phases  of  the  Curriculum  of  the  Ele- 

mentary School.    Proceedings  N.  E.  A., 
1905.  PP-  374-38o. 
GORDY  A  Broader  Elementary  Education,  pp.  212- 

289. 
HALLECK  Education  of  the  Central  Nervous  System, 

chap.  n. 
JACKMAN  The      Curriculum.       Elementary      School 

Teacher,  vol.  5,  pp.  597-665. 

KERN  Industrial  Training  Most  Practical  and  Best 

Suited  to  the   Country   Child.     Proceed- 
ings, Department  Superintendence,  N.  E. 
A.,  1906,  pp.  174-178. 
Among  Country  Schools. 

KEYES  Industrial   Training  best  Adapted  to  City 

Children.     Proceedings,   Department   Su- 
perintendence, N.  E.  A.,  1906,  pp.   179- 

183- 
KLEMM  European  Schools. 

Industrial  Education  in  Rural  Schools,  Re- 
port of  Committee,  N.  E.  A.,  1905. 

McMuRRY,          Elements    of    General    Method,    chaps.    2 
CHARLES  &  4. 


1 88 


STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 


McMuRRY,  FRANK 


PAYNE 

PARKER 

RICE 


ROUILLION 

ROWE 

STONEHEAD 


TEACHERS  COLLEGE 
RECORD 

THORNDIKE 
WILSON 


Omissions  Advisable  in  the  Present 
Course  of  Study  and  Basis  for  the 
Same.  Proceedings,  Dept.  Superin- 
tendence, N.  E.  A.,  1904,  pp.  26-34. 

Public  Elementary  School  Curricula. 

Talks  on  Pedagogics. 

American  History  in  the  Elemen- 
tary Schools.  Elementary  School 
Teacher,  vol.  5,  pp.  449-461. 

History  in  the  University  Elementary 
School.  Elementary  School  Teacher, 
vol.  5,  pp.  521-555. 

Economics  of  Manual  Training. 

Physical  Nature  of  the  Child. 

Physical  Training  in  Grammar  Schools. 
Proceedings,  N.  E.  A.,  1905,  pp. 
768-772. 

Vol.  i,  no.  5. 

Vol.  7,  no.  i.  Elementary  School 
Curriculum,  first  year. 

The  Study  of  Children.  Teachers 
College  Record,  vol.  2,  no.  3. 

Pedagogues  and  Parents,  chaps.  4  & 
10. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
STUDY  AND  PREPARATION 

(a)    AT  HOME 

WHATEVER  may  be  said  upon  the  subject  of  home 
study,  and  of  preparation  of  lessons  out  of  school,  will 
not  find  sympathy  in  the  minds  of  all  teachers;  much 
less  will  all  parents  agree  to  the  statements  that  follow. 

I  am  at  the  outset  reminded  that  should  I  insist  upon 
home  work  for  the  child,  that  is,  preparation  at  home  of 
his  school  work  for  the  following  day,  I  should  be  falling 
into  line  with  the  demands  of  most  teachers,  of  practi- 
cally all  courses  of  study,  and,  in  fact,  should  voice  the 
views  of  the  majority  of  parents.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
I  turn  heretic  to  the  extent  of  saying  that  children  under 
a  certain  age  or  ability  in  school  should  have  little  or  no 
preparation  work  outside  the  schoolroom,  that  they  should 
be  expected  to  prepare  no  book  lessons  or  exercises  at 
home,  I  stand  in  danger  of  being  frowned  upon  by  a  vast 
number  of  my  fellow  teachers,  and  of  being  termed  a 
theorist  by  both  teacher  and  parent.  While  many  of  my 
readers  will  at  once  agree  with  the  general  proposition 
herein  made,  some  will  either  forget  it  to-morrow,  or  say 
that  while  the  principle  is  sound,  nothing  can  be  done  at 
the  present  to  modify  or  change  the  course  of  events. 

189 


igo  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

A  moment's  consideration  will  show  that  the  situation 

is  a  serious  one.     It  has  been  forced  upon  us 

stud  ^las6       ky  slow  degrees ;  and  few  there  are  outside 

seemed  the  school  fully  awake  to  the  conditions  as 

Necessary  .  _,  ,  ...    .        ,  . 

they  exist.  The  child  in  the  elementary 
school  must  prepare  just  so  many  pages  of  history, 
so  many  problems  in  number  work,  and  so  many  chap- 
ters in  his  language  book  before  the  third  day  of 
February  at  four  o'clock  P.  M.  He  must  accomplish 
this  or  he  will  not  pass.  He  must  accomplish  it  or 
he  will  not  be  ready  to  take  his  mid-year  examina- 
tions. He  must  accomplish  it  or  he  will  not  be  pro- 
moted to  the  fifth  grade  in  June.  He  must  accomplish 
it ;  and  here  the  argument  ceases,  because  the  course 
of  study  so  dictates.  If  the  teacher  does  not  bring 
the  pupil  to  the  point  suggested  in  the  course  of  study, 
she  is  a  poor  teacher,  and  would,  perhaps,  better  look 
for  another  position.  Each  grade  makes  strenuous  de- 
mands upon  the  one  next  below  it ;  the  high  school 
is  imposing  a  straight  jacket  upon  the  eighth  school 
year ;  high  school  boys  and  girls  are  having  their  work 
planned  for  them  too  largely  upon  the  basis  of  de- 
mands from  above. 

This,  then,  is  the  condition:  infants  of  seven,  eight 
and  nine  years  of  age  are  trudging  along  the  streets,  their 
arms  filled  with  books  of  sufficient  weight  to  destroy  their 
equilibrium  ;  and  this  seems  necessary  because  there  are 
not  sufficient  hours  in  the  school  day  in  which  properly 
to  prepare  and  recite  all  the  lessons  the  pupils  are  ex- 


STUDY  AND  PREPARATION  191 

pected  to  learn.  This  existing  condition  is  not  merely 
an  evil ;  it  is  a  crime. 

Pupils  in  the  first  four  years  of  school  should  have  little 
or  no  outside  school  work  to  perform,  little 
preparation  of  lessons  found  in  books,  or  les- 
Burdening  sons  that  require  close  application  in  memo- 
P^JSf  rizing  and  writing.  It  should  be  unnecessary 

to  suggest  that  the  child  of  six  to  nine  years 
of  age  needs  to  be  much  in  the  open  air ;  needs  to  have 
abundant  freedom  and  exercise  ;  needs  to  have  room  for 
his  body  to  grow  or  his  mind  will  be  cramped.  The  sev- 
eral hours  that  the  child  spends  at  school,  are,  if  prop- 
erly spent,  sufficient  for  mental  work. 

Many  children,  below  the  age  I  have  indicated,  carry 
home  a  long  list  of  words,  that  they  may  be  able  to  spell 
them  correctly  next  day ;  they  must  write  a  certain 
number  of  sentences  containing  various  classes  of  words 
for  the  language  lesson ;  they  must  bring  to  school  the 
home  work  in  number  :  several  pages  of  problems  neatly 
written,  and  each  step  of  the  analysis  in  its  exact  order ; 
they  must  learn  by  heart  the  definitions  of  cape,  bay  and 
isthmus,  and  be  able  to  recite  the  lesson  in  geography. 
Hour  after  hour  is  spent  at  this  home  work,  the  results, 
many  times,  being  no  better  than  could  be  secured  at 
school  under  proper  conditions  in  a  comparatively  short 
time.  Not  knowing  how  to  study  and  being  unfit  for 
study,  time  and  temper  are  lost,  and  the  child  made 
miserable. 

Only  in  rare  instances  is  the  work  prepared  at  home 


192  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

given  any  direction.     Only  memory  processes   are  in- 
volved.    There  is  no  background  of  thought, 

Direction          t^ie  ^sw61"   being   the   end   in   view;   and 

Given  study      aside  from  this  there  is  no  seeming  neces- 
sity to  accomplish  the  task.     The  pupil  does 

it  because  he  must. 

The  cause  of  this  unnatural  condition,  how  the  pres- 
sure has  been  brought  to   bear   upon   the 

Placing  of         child's  mind  to  make  of  it,  before  maturity 

theKespon- 

is  reached,  an  adult  m  mental  gymnastics 


and  memory  training  need  not  be  further 
discussed.  The  situation  confronts  us.  The  teachers  of 
to-day  are  not  entirely  responsible  ;  neither  school  people 
nor  parents  can  be  wholly  blamed  ;  we  should,  so  far  as 
possible,  however,  attempt  to  set  right  the  wrong  condi- 
tion. So  long  as  the  teacher  of  the  primary  school  has 
to  deal  with  more  than  thirty,  forty,  or  even  sixty  pupils, 
we  cannot  expect  the  proper  amount  of  time  to  be  de- 
voted to  each  pupil  while  in  school.  It  is  considerable 
if  they  have  been  amused,  much  less  taught.  The  child 
does  not  know  how  to  study,  and  with  the  small  share  of 
attention  he  gets  in  school,  it  is  unlikely  that  he  will 
ever  learn.  This  crowded  condition  means  too  much 
work  with  the  mass  and  not  enough  with  individuals  ; 
and  at  once  improper  and  dangerous  habits  are  con- 
tracted. Instead  of  entering  heartily  into  the  work,  a 
listless  form  of  attention  is  engendered  ;  and  an  hour  is 
required  to  accomplish  what  should  be  done  in  one-third 
the  time.  At  home,  too  often,  the  parent  makes  no  ob- 


STUDY  AND  PREPARATION  193 

jection  if  the  pupil  worries  and  frets  over  the  figures  and 
words,  facts  and  definitions,  provided  he  keeps  away 
from,  and  does  not  trouble,  his  elders.  And  it  is  so 
much  easier  to  answer  the  child's  questions  directly  than 
it  is  to  lead  him  to  an  understanding  of  the  work  in  hand. 
But  aside  from  the  lessons  of  the  book  there  are  many 
things,  largely  along  motor  lines,  that  may 
be  profitably  done  at  home  by  the  pupils  of 
the  first  school  years.  Drawing  and  con- 
struction, representation  and  the  making  of  things,  il- 
lustrating and  making  clear  the  book  lessons,  in  fact  all 
work  of  an  art  or  a  manual  nature  may  well  occupy  the 
time  out  of  school.  Instead  of  engaging  in  work  or  play 
of  an  aimless  character,  the  pupil  will,  if  the  proper  in- 
centives are  provided,  derive  much  benefit  from  his  out- 
of-school  handiwork. 

Much  of  the  manual  work  could  be  planned  at  school 
and  carried  on  at  home,  for  in  this  age  of  advanced 
method  and  modern  practice  in  education,  many  parents 
would  find  it  easier  to  assist  in  constructive  work  than 
in  the  arithmetic  or  language  exercises.  If  a  little  en- 
couragement is  offered,  the  life  interests  of  the  child 
would  show  themselves.  There  would  be  little  need  of 
curfew  laws  and  police  regulations  of  youthful  misde- 
meanors, if  at  home  and  at  school  ample  facilities  were 
provided  for  industrial  training.  It  is  a  commonplace 
that  the  reform  school  is  leading  the  way  in  educational 
theory  and  practice  through  the  work  it  offers  in  indus- 
trial lines. 

Standards — 13 


194  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

Here  is  a  matter  in  which  the  parents  may  assist. 
The  school  should  begin,  and  the  parents  insist  upon,  the 
introduction  of  manual  training  throughout  the  school. 
The  school  people  stand  ready  to  do  what  the  taxpayers 
demand  and  if,  as  home  work,  the  pupils  have  their  reg- 
ular tasks  to  perform  along  the  lines  of  design,  construc- 
tion and  decoration,  the  home  may  greatly  aid  the 
school. 

(&)    AT   SCHOOL 

What  has  been  said  of  the  evils  resulting  from  prepa- 
ration of  lessons  at  home  by  young  pupils,  has  been  said 
not  as  a  plea  for  idleness  either  at  home  or  at  school. 
Much  more  time  should  be  devoted,  while  at  school,  to 
actual  study  and  preparation  of  lessons  than  is  now  given, 
but  it  should  be  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher.  Too 
often  the  pupil  comes  to  his  recitation  with  only  a  vague 
idea  of  the  lesson  or  subject. 

More  will  be  said  in  another  chapter  upon  the  manner 

of  study  ;  but  it  is  at  school,  where  the  pupil 

Derived**68      nas  tne  advantage  of  the  teacher's  assistance 

fromDi-  and  counsel,  that  he  can  best  prepare  his 

reeled  Study  . 

work.  With  the  least  loss  of  time  he  can  be 
directed  to  the  main  features  in  a  given  lesson,  or  be  led 
to  select  the  topics  demanding  most  earnest  considera- 
tion ;  he  has  access  to  books  and  materials  other  than  his 
text  from  which  he  may  derive  assistance  and  informa- 
tion ;  he  is  inspired  by  the  enthusiasm  of  numbers  doing 
the  same  or  similar  tasks  as  those  upon  which  he  is  him- 


STUDY  AND  PREPARATION  195 

self  engaged  ;  he  can  have  the  watchful  eye  of  the  teacher 
upon  him,  to  call  him  to  his  work  if  necessary  and  to 
guard  him  against  this  or  that  circumstance  which  may 
offer  a  side  attraction.  If  puzzled  or  perplexed,  the 
teacher  may  by  a  word  or  question  set  the  pupil's  feet  in 
the  right  path,  or  perhaps,  through  his  knowledge  of  the 
child,  and  his  skill  as  a  teacher,  he  may  do  him  the  great- 
est possible  service  by  throwing  him  entirely  upon  his  own 
resources.  Then,  too,  realizing  clearly  the  difficulties  in 
the  various  lessons,  and  knowing  the  pupil's  capacity  in 
the  several  lines  of  work,  he  is  enabled  to  suggest  the 
proportionate  length  of  time  that  should  be  put  upon  a 
topic.  If  the  lesson  is  not  prepared,  he  must  know  the 
reason  therefor  and  suggest  remedies. 

That  the  home  people  frequently  are  unable  to  give 

the  pupil  the  assistance  he  needs  in  his  work 
Difficulty^16  °f  preparation,  is  accounted  for,  in  part,  by 

the  fact  that  the  methods  of  to-day  differ 
materially  from  those  of  the  school  days  of  our  fathers, 
and  that  our  text-books  present  their  subject-matter  in 
entirely  new  ways.  When  assistance  is  asked  in  the  so- 
lution of  a  problem,  the  parent  is  told :  "  That  is  not  the 
way  the  teacher  wants  us  to  do  it,"  and  the  former  has 
to  admit  that  the  new  form  of  analysis  or  construction  is 
beyond  him.  As  the  parent's  way  is  frequently  that  of 
life,  while  the  method  of  the  book  is  the  method  of  the 
lesson  only,  sad  it  is,  indeed,  that  the  former  is  not  more 
frequently  substituted  for  the  latter. 

But  after  all,  when  considering  the  pupils  of  the  first 


196  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

four  years,  the  study-recitation  is  about  all  that  should 
be  expected  of  them.  They  should  have  the  assistance 
of  the  teacher  during  the  study  time  as  they  do  in  their 
recitations,  and  should  be  largely  free  from  books  when 
out  of  school. 

THESES 

1.  Teachers  and  parents  generally  believe  in  study  and 
preparation  of  lessons  out  of  school  by  pupils  of  the  first 
school  years. 

2.  Such    outside   preparation  seems  a  necessity  be- 
cause of  the  ground  to  be  covered  in  the  elementary 
school ;  classes  are  large  and  courses  of  study  must  be 
upheld. 

3.  Children,  immature  in  years  and  development,  are 
in  danger  of  being  overcrowded  ;  they  should  have  much 
freedom  when  out  of  school. 

4.  Home  work  is  unsatisfactory  because  : 

(a)  The  child  does  not  know  how  to  study ; 

(b)  Parents  are  able  to  give  but  little  direction. 

5.  Neither  teacher  nor  parent  can  be  held  entirely  re- 
sponsible for  existing  conditions. 

6.  Industrial  or  constructive  work  may  profitably  have 
a  place  at  home,  being  planned  at  the  school. 

7.  The  school  offers  the  best  advantages  for  the  prepa- 
ration of  book  lessons  because  : 

(a)  Books  and  apparatus  are  at  hand  ; 

(b)  The  pupil  has  the  advantage  of  the  teacher's 

knowledge  and  suggestion. 


STUDY  AND  PREPARATION  197 

TOPICS   FOR   STUDY 

1.  Is  too  much  or  too  little  direction  usually  given  the 
pupil  in  his  study  periods  ?     Is  the  teacher  or  the  parent 
inclined  to  offer  the  more  assistance  to  the  pupils  ? 

2.  Suggest  the  lines  of  work  that  can  be  carried  on  as 
profitably  at  home  as  at  school.     Compare  the  length  of 
time  given  to  actual  preparation  at  school  in  the  various 
grades  with  that  given  at  home. 

3.  Do  pupils  of  the  first  four  years  in  school  over 
study  ?     Do  they  choose  to  prepare  lessons  at  home  ? 

4.  Consider  the  feasibility  of  allowing  the  pupils  to  as- 
sist one  another  in  their  study  at  school.     What  are  the 
dangers  and  advantages  on  each  side  ? 

5.  Suggest  a  plan  for  home  work  in  those  lines  that 
tax  mainly  the  physical  side  of  the  pupil. 

6.  Consider  the  plan  of  the  older  children's  giving  as- 
sistance to  the  younger  children  hi  home  preparation. 
Would,  then,  the  graded  school  or  the  unclassified  coun- 
try school  be  best  adapted  to  this  end  ? 

CONSULT 

BAGLEY  The  Educative  Process,  chaps.  19-22. 

BRYAN  The  Basis  of  Practical  Teaching,  chap.  14. 

DEWEY  The  School  and  Society. 

Elementary   School    Curriculum    in    Teachers 

College  Record,  vol.  7,  pp.  1-12. 
GORDY  A  Broader  Elementary  Education,  chaps.  15  & 

16. 
HINSDALE       The  Art  of  Study,  chaps.  6-n. 


198  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

MOORE  Science  of  Study. 

O'SHEA  Dynamic  Factors  in  Education,  chap.  18. 

PARKER  Talks  on  Pedagogics. 

THORNDIKE  Notes  on  Child  Study,  chaps.  15,  17,  19  &  20. 

WILSON  Pedagogues  and  Parents,  chaps.  13  &  14. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  RECITATION  PROCESS 

(a)    SELECTION  OF  MATERIAL 

As  already  stated,  there  can  be  no  method  without 

subject-matter.     Method  must  presuppose  a  knowledge 

of  subject-matter.    The  studies  must  be  selected  and  the 

curriculum  arranged  before  method  can  be  ap- 

seiection  of      plied  to  the  teaching  of  the  various  branches. 

Material  the 

First  step         In  the  recitation  process,  the  selection  of  the 
material  follows  immediately  the  decision  as 

to  the  subject  or  branch  of  instruction  to  be  pursued. 
Subjects  are  so  varied  and  their  number  so  extensive 
that  the  selection  of  study  material  must  be 
largely  a  matter  of  elimination.    Much  that 


the  selective     m  itself  is  valuable  must  be  pushed  aside  to 

Process  . 

make  place  for  things  of  greater  importance. 
The  question  of  relative  values  must  here  receive  grave 
consideration. 

Local  conditions  will  determine  largely  the  selection 
of  the  study  material.  The  surroundings  of  the  school 
and  the  home  will  play  no  small  part.  The  conditions 
pertaining  to  the  down  town  portions  of  a  crowded  city 
differ  widely  from  those  of  the  town  or  village;  and  the 
isolated  country  district  presents  a  series  of  problems 

199 


200  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

similar  to  neither.  In  each  instance  the  study  material 
must  be  chosen  with  locality  as  a  determining  factor. 

The  nationality  of  pupils,  the  financial  condition  of  par- 
ents, the  moral  and  ethical  life  of  the  homes,  —  these  are 
elements  of  prime  importance.  In  no  small  degree  will  the 
selection  of  material,  especially  in  its  details,  be  determined 
by  the  industry  or  craft  pertaining  among  the  patrons, 
whether  that  of  manufacture,  shipping,  farming,  milling, 
lumbering,  mining;  the  curriculum  in  a  community  en- 
gaged in  commercial  lines  must  surely  vary  from  that  in  a 
community  where  literary  pursuits  prevail.  These  and 
scores  of  other  problems  must  be  met  and  weighed  by  the 
individual  teacher. 

In  certain  city  or  country  districts,  boys  particularly, 
leave  school  at  an  early  age.  In  localities 
wnere  this  condition  is  apparent,  extraordi- 


both  inter-       naiy  care  must  be  exercised  in  the  planning 

eutingand  *  . 

serviceable       of  the  curnculum,  not  alone  to  present  the 

interesting,  that  the  pupil  may  be  held  for  the 

longest  possible  time,  but  that  those  who  must  leave  early 

may  have  the  advantage  of  the  most  serviceable  course  of 

study  that  it  is  possible  to  arrange  for  that  class  of  stu- 

dents.    All  of  this  assumes  that  the  individual  teacher  is- 

bound  down  by  no  course  of  study  planned  for  all  alike. 

In  lower  classes,  and  when  dealing  with  certain  school 

subjects,  it  may  be  wise  to  follow  no  text- 

Book  a  Guide     book,  but  teachers  in  general  will  find  it  ad- 

vantageous t&  have  such  a  guide.    This  will 

tend  to  do  away  with  the  danger  of  flying  wide  of  the  mark. 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  201 

The  text-book,  in  whatever  subject  the  choice  is  to  be 
made,  should  be  the  very  best  that  can  be  secured.    No 

influence  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  the 
Text-Books'  selection,  save  merit  alone.  No  book  con- 
Based  upon  cern,  no  county  or  city  board,  no  "influential 
upon  Graft  member,"  no  author  friend  should  count  in 

this  matter,  only  as  such  influence  stands  for 
the  best.  The  public  schools  are  administered  by  public 
servants  and  supported  by  public  funds;  and  no  teacher 
or  text-book,  no  equipment,  no  school  comfort  or  conven- 
ience is  too  good  for  those  who  seek  an  education  in  our 
institutions  of  learning. 

But  you  who  are  working  under  a  city  or  county  course 
of  study  may  say  that  here  the  argument  closes.  The 
course  of  study  is  blocked  out.  You  must  teach  what  the 
outline  dictates  and  from  the  books  furnished  or  required. 

It  is  possible  some  teachers  are  less  compe- 
Teache'r  will  tent  to  select  the  study  material  than  are  the 
be  allowed  board  members  by  whom  they  are  engaged. 

Latitude  if  J  .      ° 

Results  If  so,  such  teachers  should  be  required  to 

seek  occupation  in  other  fields.     Incompe- 
tency  among  board  members  is  not  a  license  for  inability 
•on  the  part  of  teachers;  and  those  who  have  most  to  do 
with  the  schools  know  most  about  their  make-up.    Teach- 
ers who  are  competent  to  study  conditions  so  as  to  know 
what  is  best  for  a  given  student  or  class  should  be  allowed 
not  only  to  suggest,  but  to  choose  with  large  freedom  as 
well.    They  should  then  be  held  responsible  for  results. 
The  teacher  who  is  working  under  an  unwieldy  system 


202  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

where  much  machinery  is  necessary  must  recognize  a 
central  authority.  He  must  "follow  copy."  In  the  lower 
grades,  however,  if  tact  and  judgment  are  used,  the  best 
books  may  be  secured,  even  though  they  are  not  listed  in 
the  course  of  study  or  included  in  the  State  Series.  Such 
a  teacher  will  usually  be  permitted  to  perform  his  work 
in  his  own  way.  No  violence  will  be  done  to  rules  or  regu- 
lations, and  the  teacher's  chances  for  reelection  will  not 
be  endangered.  One  thing  he  must  do,  and  to  good 
purpose.  He  must  accomplish  results. 

But  the  securing  of  a  good  text  is  not  all.  The  proper 
material  as  contained  in  the  book  must  be  selected.  The 
best  material  for  a  given  lesson  may  not  always  be  found 
upon  the  page  following  yesterday's  recitation.  It  may 
be  elsewhere  in  the  text-book  or  it  may  be  in  several 
places.  It  will  do  no  harm  to  draw  upon  a  lesson  already 
covered  or  to  levy  upon  a  chapter  in  advance,  if  there  be 
found  the  material  needed  and  providing  that  the  work  is 
understood. 

The  text-book  should  be  used  as  a  guide  only.  It  is 
the  compass  to  point  the  way  and  to  keep 
m  his  course-  Any  available  au- 


auide  thority  whatsoever  may  be  used,  all  sources 

Merely 

contnbuting.  Nor  is  the  lesson  material  to 
be  selected  from  books  alone.  In  most  subjects  abundant 
material  offers  itself  for  use.  This  may  be  selected  from 
maps,  charts,  newspapers  and  magazines;  from  natural 
objects,  business  interests,  play  and  work;  from  the  vo- 
cations, interests  and  achievements  of  men  and  of  the 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  203 

students  themselves;  from  incidents  of  street  life,  the  asso- 
ciation of  student  with  student;  from  con- 
versation  and  observation;  from  excursions  to 


woods  and  fields  and  streams;  from  visits  to 
museums,  quarries,  mills,  manufacturing  plants,  buildings 
in  course  of  construction  and  produce  markets;  from  in- 
vestigation of  shipping  by  land  and  sea;  and  from  the 
planting,  tending  and  harvesting  of  crops;  in  fact  every 
interest  and  every  activity  of  life  will  furnish  study  mate- 
rial for  one  or  another  recitation. 

(6)    DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  PLAN 

Each  lesson  or  series  of  lessons  should  be  carefully 

planned  and  worked  out  before  being  pre- 

sented to  the  class.     Having  taught  a  given 

Planned  by        subject  for  a  period  of  years  should  not  be  an 

the  Teacher 

excuse  for  the  nonpreparation  of  each  day  s 
lesson.  Just  as  each  pupil  in  a  class  demands  a  treatment 
differing  from  that  extended  to  each  other  member,  so 
each  class  should  be  studied,  and  each  lesson  to  be  pre- 
sented prepared  beforehand. 

In  planning   lessons   various  methods  are   employed. 
Some  teachers  find  it  convenient  and  beneficial  to  arrange 
each  lesson  or  topic  upon  paper  or  in  a  notebook,  fol- 
lowing much  the  same  order  as  that  used  in  some  normal 
schools.     For  instance,  they  would  determine, 
First,  the    aim,   purpose    or   object   of    the 


lesson,  what  it  is  purposed  to  bring  out  and 
the  results  it  is  hoped  to  reach;  Second,  the  material  to  be 


204  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

used,  whether  found  in  text-book  or  in  other  illustrative 
matter,  giving  sources  of  information;  Third,  the  method 
of  the  lesson  or  manner  of  procedure,  showing  how  the 
various  steps  are  to  be  taken  and  why. 

Those  who  do  not  use  the  written  scheme  should  for- 
mulate their  plan  in  some  other  way.  No  teacher  should 
attempt  to  present  a  topic  to  a  class  without  having  first 
decided  why  he  selects  this  rather  than  some  other  lesson, 
why  he  is  to  present  it  in  one  rather  than  in  another  form, 
or  whether  he  is  using  the  most  desirable  media  and  illus- 
trative material  there  is  at  hand. 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  teacher  is  to  proceed  in  the 
class  step  by  step  as  he  has  worked  out  the 

Circum-  .  ,     ,       .       . 

stances  may  lesson  in  preparation.  Indeed,  the  exact 
Kratine'of  conditions  he  hopes  for  or  expects  may  not 
theEecita-  be  present.  Outward  circumstances,  the 
mental  or  physical  attitude  of  the  pupils,  or 
other  conditions  may  vary.  Some  unthought-of  direction 
may  be  given  the  trend  of  lesson  or  discussion  by  an  un- 
expected query  or  an  answer  unlocked  for.  All  such 
circumstances  only  make  it  the  more  imperative  that  the 
teacher  be  fully  prepared,  the  better  to  cope  with  any  or 
all  emergencies.  With  a  thorough  preparation  he  is  the 
more  likely  to  be  able  to  answer  any  question  that  may 
arise,  or  to  keep  the  class  or  individual  from  drifting,  or 
himself  from  being  thrown  off  the  main  track  of  the 
lesson. 

If  lessons  are  planned  ahead,  the  teacher  has  opportunity 
to  build  up,  to  change,  or  to  modify  the  plan.  He  should 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  205 

reduce  the  matter  to  its  lowest  terms,  cutting  away  any 
unnecessary  underbrush,  yet  at  the  same  time  relieving 
the  pupil  of  nothing  that  will  assist  his  growth.  By  de- 
veloping the  plan  of  a  lesson,  the  teacher  minimizes  the 
danger  of  haphazard  work  and  of  being  taken  unawares 
and  thus  compelled  to  acknowledge  himself  unprepared. 
He  is  the  more  able  to  proceed  in  a  logical  manner,  hav- 
ing in  mind  what  has  gone  before,  and  looking  forward 
to  what  is  to  come. 

(c)  ASSIGNMENT  OF  LESSON 

With  a  well  thought-out  and  analyzed  plan  of  pro- 
cedure  the   teacher  may  readily  and  with 
Assignment      some    degree    of    understanding    make    an 
assignment    for    the    following    day.      The 
statement,  "take  the  next  ten  pages,"  or  "to  the  middle 
of  the  next  chapter,"  or  "the  next  lesson"  will  do  oc- 
casionally, but  good  pedagogy  demands  that  it  be  carried 
not  too  far. 

Lessons  are  frequently  disconnected,  and  irrelevant  one 
to  another  or  to  any  other  interest  of  the  school  or  home. 
The  topical  assignment  will  usually  bring  the 
test  results.  If  the  pages  of  the  text-book 
contain  all  the  information  to  which  it  is  de- 
sired the  pupils  have  access,  well  and  good.  When  the 
lessons  are  grouped  topically,  assignments  may  be  made 
both  for  individual  and  class  work;  and  the  pupil  may  be 
referred  to  outside  sources,  or  required  to  discover  for 
himself  material  bearing  upon  the  topic  in  hand. 


206  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

An  assignment  should  be  definite.     Care  must  be  ex- 

ercised to  the  end  that  every  pupil  understands  clearly 

what  is  expected  of  him  in  preparing  for  his  recitation. 

It  is  ofttimes  best  to  assign  work  at  the  be- 

vaiue  of          ginning  of  a  lesson.    If  this  task  be  left  until 

Definite 

Assignments  the  close  of  the  recitation,  the  assignment  is 
sometimes  hurried  and  unsatisfactory,  the 
ground  to  be  covered  being  only  partially  made  clear. 
If  the  hoped-for  ground  be  not  covered  in  the  recitation, 
a  different  assignment  from  the  one  planned  may  be 
necessary. 

Even  in  the  lower  grades  it  is  sometimes  best  to  assign 
special  topics  or  various  phases  of  a  given  topic  to  in- 
dividual pupils,  making  each  responsible  for  the  lesson  in 
general,  and  at  the  same  time  seeking  to  awaken  an  in- 
terest through  individual  responsibility.  By  varying  the 
common  plan  the  pupils  themselves  may  be  asked  how 
much  they  can  cover  in  a  given  lesson.  Some 
pupils,  particularly  anxious  to  please  the 


His  own          teacher,   will    suggest    an    overlong    lesson. 

Ability 

Others  may  either  underestimate  their  own 
capacity  or  suggest  a  short  lesson  as  a  means  of  gaining 
more  time  for  something  else.  By  noting  carefully  the 
desires  of  each  pupil  the  teacher  may  the  better  study 
their  characteristics. 

While  the  assignments  must  be  definite,  it  is  not  always 
wise  to  give  every  reference  or  designate  every  source  of 
prospective  information.  Something  should  be  left  to 
the  ingenuity  of  the  pupil.  Encourage  the  habit  of 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  207 

bringing  in  information  gained  from  outside  sources. 
Great  care  must  be  exercised  lest  work 
either  too  easy  or  too  difficult  be  assigned; 


Bobbed  of        then  once  having  requested  a  pupil  to  per- 
form a  task  only  the  best  of  reasons  should 
be  accepted  for  noncompliance. 

(d)    HOW  TO  STUDY 

The  next  step  after  the  lesson  or  topic  has  been  assigned 
is  its  preparation  by  the  class  members.  Children  do 
not  know  how  to  study.  They  read  their  lessons  and 
give  time  to  them,  but  seldom  study  them. 

One  of  the  first  requisites  after  becoming  interested  is 

the  ability  to  concentrate.    The  mind  adrift 

The  value  of     cannot   study;   it   can   only  dream.     Unless 

Concentra-  J  '  J 

tion  the  mind  can  be  riveted  upon  the  desired 

problem  hi  such  a  way  as  to  shut  out  every- 
thing of  a  foreign  nature,  the  lesson  in  hand  cannot  really 
be  studied.  Until  the  pupil  is  able  to  do  this  he  would 
best  not  attempt  to  prepare  his  school  work  in  a  room 
where  conversation  and  social  intercourse  are  being  carried 
on. 

The  pupil  may  at  times  with  profit,  read  the  lesson 
through  from  the  beginning,  whether  it  be  a  problem  in 
arithmetic,  a  statement  in  history,  or  a  paragraph  in  lit- 
erature. By  miscalling  a  word  or  a  figure,  the  whole 
meaning  or  sense  of  a  statement  or  question  may  be  lost. 

A  few  moments  of  close  application,  of  uninterrupted 
study  will  accomplish  more  than  several  hours  of  sporadic, 


2o8  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

intermittent,  or  mind-wandering  attempts.  If  the  pupil 
has  a  study  hour  at  school,  the  teacher  will  be  able  to 
note  the  points  at  which  he  needs  assistance  and  offer 
suggestions  accordingly.  Encourage  the  pupil  to  ask 
himself  what  he  is  about  to  do,  as  in  a  geometry  lesson  he 
is  taught  to  determine  and  state  at  the  outset  what  he  has 
given  and  what  he  is  to  prove. 

If  the  pupil  has  acquired  the  proper  habits  of  study,  he 
will  not   inform   the   teacher   so   frequently 

Clear  State-  n  J 

mentaBe-  that  he  is  "all  mixed  up."  Proper  habits  of 
Proper1  °  study  lead  to  clear  thought  and  exact  ex- 
Modes  of  pression,  and  thus  to  rational  action.  Fre- 

Study  . 

quently  on  attempting  to  answer  a  question,  a 
student  will  be  unable  to  state  the  question  to  which  he 
seeks  answer.  He  has  not  learned  to  think  nor  has  he 
formed  habits  of  study. 

As  has  been  suggested,  material  other  than  that  found 
in  the  text-book  may  be  of  value  to  the  pupil.  An  illus- 
tration is  in  point.  A  grammar  grade  class  hi  United 
States  history  had  been  studying  the  causes  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  and  had  prepared  papers  to  be  read  in 
class.  One  of  the  girls  in  the  class,  through  discussion  at 

home,  had  learned  something  of  one  of  the 

Individual-  .  •  i     •        ,  i 

it  more  remote  causes  not  mentioned  in   the 

Dwarfed;         text.    When  she  presented  this  in  her  paper 

An  Illustra- 
tion she  was  reprimanded  by  the  teacher.    It  de- 
veloped  subsequently   in   conversation   with 
the  teacher  that  she  did  not  desire  information  other  than 
that  of  the  text,  lest  the  pupils  gain  ideas  faulty  or  er- 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  209 

roncous.  This  teacher,  instead  of  stimulating  in  the  child 
the  spirit  of  individual  initiative,  was  closing  one  of  the 
avenues  of  greatest  culture. 

Some  place  interest  as  the  only  key  to  right  habits  of 
study.  Some  insist  that  the  kindergarten  offers  a  sug- 
gestion as  to  methods  desirable  in  the  upper  schools. 
Many  grade  teachers  complain  of  the  pupils  who  come  to 
them  from  the  kindergarten,  and  insist  that  the  play  at- 
titude has  been  so  strong  hi  early  training,  that  serious 
habits  of  study  are  difficult  to  form.  In  a  recent  number 
of  the  North  American  Review,*  Professor  Barrett  Wen- 
dell of  Harvard  says  that  nothing  has  done  more  to  break 
down  serious  habits  among  the  young  than  the  use  of 
kindergarten  methods  beyond  the  kinder- 

la  the  Kin-  * 

dergarten         garten  age.    In  other  words,  that  the  dressing 
UP  °f  every  duty  hi  the  costume  of  play  de- 


Habits  of  prives  the  boy  or  girl  of  that  training  which 
alone  comes  from  the  performance  of  duty 
at  whatever  cost.  Professor  Wendell  pleads  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  conscience  and  the  will  hi  a  child  as  in  a 
man,  and  insists  that  the  greatest  injury  we  can  do  a  de- 
veloping soul  is  to  teach  it  that  all  duty  should  be  sugar- 
coated.  There  comes  a  time  when  the  wise  teacher  lays 
aside  the  ribbons  and  tells  the  boy  to  put  on  his  overalls. 
Whatever  view  may  be  taken  regarding  this  matter, 
there  can  be  no  question  that  proper  habits  of  study  go 
far  toward  producing  a  desirable  intellectual  and  moral 
atmosphere. 

*Vol.  179,  p.  396  (Sept.,  1904). 
Standards  —  14 


210  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

(e)    HEARING  THE  RECITATION  VS.  TEACHING 

The  final  stage  in  the  recitation  process,  so  far  as  teacher 
or  school  is  concerned,  is  that  generally  spoken  of  as  the 
recitation.  This  is  the  time  when  teacher  and  pupils  are 
actually  together.  The  custom  is  common  of  devoting 
this  period  to  hearing  the  lesson.  Questions  are  asked, 
for  the  most  part  by  the  teacher,  the  answers 
TheQues-  coming  from  the  class.  These  questions,  in 

tion  and  An- 
swer Method     exact  phraseology  or  in  substance,  are  taken, 

many  times,  from  the  book,  in  the  order  hi 
which  they  occur.  Thus  the  lesson  takes  the  form  of  a 
quiz.  Too  little  information  is  imparted  by  the  teacher. 
Simply  to  hear  pupils  recite  is  not  teaching.  Teaching 
is  more  than  hearing  a  recitation.  The  teacher  who  hears 
the  recitation  is  keeping  school.  Caution  must  be  used 
that  the  pupil  is  not  weakened  by  having  his  work  done 

for  him.     Out  of  his  larger  store  of  knowl- 

iS£tTconher     ec*&e'  h°wever>  and  tne  preparation  he  has 
tribute  made,  the  teacher  should  be  enabled  to  add 

greatly  to  the  child's  fund  of  information,— 
information  the  child  cannot  acquire  from  books  or  at 
home. 

Too  much  talking  is  a  dangerous  thing.  If  the  teacher 
talks  much  the  class  will,  more  and  more,  lose  interest 
and  will  hesitate  to  give  expression  to  their  ideas.  This 
may  finally  lead  to  lack  of  preparation.  The  incident 
is  related  of  the  boy,  who,  on  returning  from  school, 
was  asked  by  his  father  what  he  had  learned  that  day. 


THE  RECITA  TION  PROCESS  2 1 1 

"Nothing,"  replied  the  boy;  "the  teacher  talked  all  the 
time." 

What  may  be  called  the  study-recitation,  is,  if  properly 
conducted,  of  great  value.  Instead  of  assigning  a  lesson 
to  be  prepared,  the  lesson  is  first  taken  up  in  class  for 
analysis.  The  teacher  goes  over  the  work, 
Solution  suggesting  methods  of  approach,  and  ques- 
tioning the  pupils  on  the  problems  to  be  met 
and  conquered.  At  the  same  time  care  is  exercised  that 
the  difficulties  the  pupil  should  meet  and  overcome  are 
not  laid  out  before  him.  By  suggesting  additional  sources 
of  information  bearing  upon  the  lesson,  and  by  adding  to 
the  interest  in  such  manner  as  the  teacher's  own  knowl- 
edge makes  possible  and  his  mind  prompts,  the  class  may 
be  stimulated  to  effort  and  may  begin  their  task,  not 
groping  blindly,  but  with  understanding  of  how  and 
what  to  study. 

This  study-recitation  or  study-preparation  lesson  is  then 
a  forerunner  of  a  development  lesson.  Not  only  is  the 
pupil's  knowledge  of  facts  tested,  but  he  is  helped  to  in- 
formation at  once  useful  and  educational. 

The  art  of  questioning  is  extremely  valuable  in  the 

recitation.     Quick,    well-directed   questions,   relative   to 

the  matter  in  hand  stimulate  interest.     Judgment  must 

determine  whether  a  question,   unanswered 

Questioning      ^y  Qne  pupj^  js  to  j^  passed  on  to  another. 

Sometimes  this  method  brings  best  results. 
Again,  when  a  student  fails  to  answer  satisfactorily,  he 
may  be  asked  another  question  on  a  different  phase  of 


212  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

the  lesson,  or  the  original  question  modified,  the  better 
to  be  comprehended. 

Many  teachers  make  the  mistake  of  repeating  an  answer 
given.  For  example,  the  teacher  says,  "Charles,  what  is 
the  case?"  "Nominative  case,"  says  Charles,  to  which 
the  teacher  replies,  "Yes,  nominative  case."  This  mode 

of  repeating  an  answer  has  the  effect  some- 
Danger  in  times  of  impressing  the  point  upon  the  pupil's 
of^swers  mind.  With  the  habit  established  by  the 

teacher  so  that  the  pupil  expects  his  answer  to 
be  repeated,  the  effectiveness  is  lost.  Time  also  is  con- 
sumed with  no  corresponding  benefit  resulting.  The  class 
members,  knowing  that  the  question  may  be  answered 
twice,  give  attention  to  neither  answer.  It  is  generally 
best  to  ask  the  question  before  calling  upon  any  particular 
pupil  by  name,  thus  throwing  equal  responsibility  for 
the  answer  upon  all  members  of  the  class. 

One  of  the  gravest  and  most  common  dangers  of  the 
recitation  is  that  of  being  led  astray  by  a  query  or  dis- 
cussion not  germane  to  the  lesson.  The  pupil  who  is  un- 

prepared may  assume  deep  interest  and  ask 

a   question   entirely   foreign   to   the   subject 


comes  the        under    discussion,    in    order    to    draw    the 

Teacher  , 

teacher  away  from  the  recitation.  Irrelevant 
questions  may,  of  course,  be  asked  in  all  fairness  at  any 
time.  The  teacher  must  guard  against  making  the  lesson 
so  broad  as  to  include  any  question  asked.  It  is,  as  a  rule, 
better  to  hold  the  discussion  within  fairly  well-defined  limits. 
While  rapid  questions  and  answers  bring  good  results, 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  213 

it  is  not  always  best  to  pass  the  question  along  if  the  reply 
is  not  forthcoming  at  once.  Permit  the  pupil  to  think  it 
out.  Too  great  hurry  may  rob  him  of  the  very  training 
he  needs. 

Leaving  a  pupil  hi  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  an 
answer  will  ofttimes  stimulate  thought.  Ask  the  same 
question  of  several,  receiving  the  answers  without  com- 
ment. This  allows  for  freedom  and  variety  hi  expression 
and  a  fuller  consideration  of  the  topic  than  might  other- 
wise be  possible.  It  will  also  tend  to  make  a  student 
sure  of  his  position  and  to  hold  it  against  argument. 

If  the  teacher  has  thoroughly  and  conscientiously  pre- 
pared for  his  lesson,  he  need  not  then  worry  about  fol- 
lowing a  cut-and-dried  line  of  action.  In  his  Talks  to 
Teachers,*  Professor  James  says,  "The  advice  I  would 
give  to  most  teachers  would  be  hi  the  words  of  one  who  is 
herself  an  admirable  teacher — 'Prepare  yourself  in  the 
subject  so  well  that  it  will  be  always  on  tap;  then  in  the 
class  room  trust  your  spontaneity  and  fling  away  all 
further  care.'  " 

Encouragement  of  a  dull  or  poorly  prepared  student  is 

sometimes  essential.    Sarcasm  should  seldom  be  resorted 

to;  and  spite  and  irritation  have  absolutely 

Encourage-       no  place  jn  the  school.    A  pupil  should  rarely 

ment  aa 

Necessary        be  humiliated  or  threatened.     Just  as  en- 
Briticism86       couragement  and  a  "well  done"  bring  good 
results,  so  does  sharp  and  just  criticism  have 
its  place.    Fairness  is  the  one  thing  that  must  be  looked 
*  Page  222. 


214  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

to.  No  favoritism  should  ever  be  shown.  The  teacher, 
be  he  ever  so  strict,  will  be  admired  if  he  has  a  reputa- 
tion for  square  dealing. 

Many  pupils  are  sensitive  to  a  fault;  and  with  them 
harshness  or  nagging  is  very  injurious.  It  is  human 
nature  even  for  adults  to  want  praise  and  favorable  com- 
ment when  some  task  has  been  done  creditably.  Teachers 
are  too  apt  to  forget  that  the  sympathetic  nature  of  the 
child  demands  recognition  on  the  part  of  those  whom  it 
seeks  to  emulate.  When  it  is  deserved,  the  teacher  should 
not  withhold  the  favorable  criticism  even  though  it  be 
given  merely  in  a  look  or  word. 

As  little  as  possible  should  the  teacher  use  the  book  in 
class,  or  ask  questions  in  a  direct  order  as  given  in  the 
text.  Neither  should  the  pupils  be  questioned  hi  any 
regular  order.  In  some  classes  where  this  method  is 
pursued,  each  pupil  picks  out  the  question  he  knows  will 
come  to  him,  prepares  on  that  and  ignores  the  remainder 
of  the  lesson.  If  a  question  is  asked  of  the  one  least  ex- 
pecting it,  all  will  soon  learn  to  attend.  Practise  the 
method  of  calling  upon  a  class  member  to  ask  a  question 
that  will  clear  up  a  vague  point,  and  you  will  be  surprised 
at  the  good  work  that  may  be  done.  While  individuality 
is  to  be  desired,  mutual  helpfulness  and  team  work  are  of 
great  value. 

Avoid  a  set  attitude  or  position  before  the  class,  just  as 
you  avoid  using  the  same  phrases  time  after  time,  or  of 
employing  only  one  mode  of  questioning.  Do  not  feel 
that  there  is  any  reason  why  you  should  always  sit  or 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  215 

always  stand  in  class.     Be  alert  in  movement,  ready  in 
action,  but  calm  and  forceful  withal. 

The  test  or  examination  has  its  place,  but  must  not  be 
abused.  A  recapitulation  may  often  prove  best  at  the 
beginning  of  a  recitation.  It  is  a  question  with  many 
whether  a  pupil  who  fails  continually  in  his  daily  recita- 
tions but  who  comes  through  on  a  final  examination 
should  be  credited  with  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  By  "cramming"  for  a  short  time  before  an  ex- 
amination, a  pupil  may  be  able  to  pass  creditably,  but 
the  knowledge  he  has  gained  will  likely  leave  him  as 
readily  as  it  was  acquired.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  student  whose  class  work  has  been 
beyond  reproach  for  a  period  of  weeks  or 
months,  may  fail  in  an  examination.  The 
excitement  of  the  moment  renders  the  student  incompe- 
tent; and  a  grave  injustice  may  be  done  him  if  he  is 
kept  back  or  required  to  go  over  the  same  ground  again. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  mental  dimensions  of  the  stu- 
dent must  be  taken,  and  each  case  decided  on  its  own 
merits. 

Too  much  stress  must  not  be  placed  upon  examinations, 
but  both  oral  and  written  tests,  not  at  stated  times  nec- 
essarily, but  when  least  expected,  will  tend  to  stimulate 
interest  and  increase  standards  of  efficiency. 

THESES 

i.  Great  care  must  be  exercised  in  planning  the  cur- 
riculum, that  it  may  not  only  be  interesting,  but  that  it 


216  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

may  make  the  pupils  more  efficient  and  their  life  work 
more  effective. 

2.  The  best  books  should  be  used  as  texts,  and  these 
only  as   suggestive.    All   available   sources   of   informa- 
tion should  be  drawn  upon,  thus  widening  the  pupil's 
vision. 

3.  It  is  essential  that  the  teacher  plan  each  lesson  he 
is  to  present. 

4.  In  assigning  lesson  or  topic  to  class  members,  the 
method  should  be  varied.    Assignment  must  be  definite 
and  clear,  but  not  such  as  to  rob  the  pupil  of  effort. 

5.  Pupils  should  be  taught  how  to  study.    Concentra- 
tion of  mind  and  effort  is  essential. 

6.  In  the  recitation  the  teacher  must  himself  contribute. 
The  art  of  questioning  must  be  developed,  and  stereo- 
typed methods  avoided. 

7.  Favorable  as  well  as  adverse  criticism  has  a  place. 

8.  Tests  and  examinations  have  great  value,  but  they 
must  be  used  with  discrimination. 

TOPICS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  Give  the  arguments  for  and  against  a  teacher  of  a 
given  grade  selecting  the  study  material  for  such  grade. 

2.  Suppose  the  curriculum  of  a  country  school  to  be 
made  up  of  such  study  material  as  bears  a  close  relation 
to  city  conditions.     What  are  the  benefits  from  such  a 
plan? 

3.  Is  the  average  age  of  pupils  in  the  eighth  school  year 
greater  in  the  city  or  in  the  country?    Is  the  tendency 


THE  RECITATION  PROCESS  217 

greater  in  rural  or  urban  communities  for  boys  to  leave 
school  before  the  eighth  grade? 

4.  Consider  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  a 
"State  Series"  of  text-books. 

5.  Consider  the  relative  merits  for  class  use  of  the 
present  texts  hi  history  and  geography,  and  such  books 
as  are  classed  as  supplementary  readers  treating  of  travel, 
manners  and  customs,  etc. 

6.  Should  books  and  other  school  equipment  be  fur- 
nished the  pupil,  the  same  to  remain  school  property,  or 
should  the  pupil  purchase  them  ? 

7.  Suggest  how  pupils  may  be  interested  in  gathering 
material  outside  the  regular  text  used.    What  are  the  best 
methods  of  securing  and  using  materials  for  museums, 
collections,  scrapbooks,  filing  cases,  etc.? 

8.  Secure  information  from  your  fellow  students  or 
your  teacher  as  to  the  value  of  note  taking  and  the  use  of 
notebooks.     Should  the  pupil  take  notes  hi  permanent 
form,  or  with  the  idea  hi  mind  of  transcribing  them  later? 

9.  Ask  a  class  of  grade  pupils  how  they  prepare  a  lesson. 
Suppose  that  you  have  charge  of  a  class  during  study 
hour  or  that  you  take  them  to  the  library: — how  will  you 
assist  them  in  their  preparation  ? 

10.  How  does  the  kindergarten  assist  hi  or  detract 
from  the  work  of  the  next  grades  above? 

11.  Where  is  there  least  danger:  in  over-encouragement, 
or  in  adverse  criticism  of  pupils? 

12.  Discuss  fully  the  value  of,  and  danger  in,  exami- 
nations, tests,  reports,  marks,  prizes,  medals,  etc. 


2l8 


STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 


CONSULT 

BAGLEY  The  Educative  Process,  chaps.  16-22. 

BRUMBAUGH  The  Making  of  a  Teacher,  chap.  20. 

BRYAN  The  Basis  of  Practical  Teaching,  chap.  10. 

DEWEY  School  and  Society,  chap.  3. 

GIFFIN  School  Days  of  the  Fifties,  chaps.  3,  5,  9  &  n. 

GREENWOOD  Successful  Teaching,  pp.  75-81;  97-106. 

HINSDALE  The  Art  of  Study,  pp.  7-89. 

McMuRRY  Suggestions  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Study 
Period.  Proceedings,  Department  Superin- 
tendence, N.  E.  A.,  1906,  pp.  78-84. 

PAGE  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching,  chaps.  8  &  9. 

PUTNAM  Manual  of  Pedagogy,  chap.  9. 

SEELEY  The  Foundations  of  Education,  chap.  18. 

THORNDIKE  Principles  of  Teaching,  pp.  257-264. 

WHITE  School  Management,  pp.  21-30;  130-166. 


CHAPTER   X 

TRAINING,   PROFESSIONAL    GROWTH   AND 
RECOMPENSE  OF  THE  TEACHER 

A.    INITIAL    PREPARATION 

(a)  Knowledge  of  Subject-Matter 

IF  the  normal  or  training  school  that  prepares  for  gen- 
eral teaching  is  on  a  high-schcol  basis,  that  is,  if  it  ad- 
mits only  those  who  have  had  the  equivalent  of  a  sec- 
ondary education,  then  its  students  should  possess  a 
knowledge  of  subject-matter  sufficient  to 
Grammar  warrant  their  teaching  without  a  technical 
School  Be-  study  of  subjects  in  the  normal  school.  In 

quirement 

for  Normal        other  words,    the   years   spent   in    training 
should   be  applied   professionally-wise.     If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  normal  school    ad- 
mits from  the  eighth  school  year    or  takes  those  with 
less  than  an  academic  education,  subject-matter,  as  such, 
must  be  pursued  along  with  the  professional  work.     In 
any  event,  as  suggested  in  a  former  chap- 
subject-  ter,*  a  knowledge  of  subject-matter  is  ab- 

Matter  vs. 

Method  solutely  essential  to  a  teacher  and  should 

precede  the  work  hi  method.     No  one  can 

be  expected  to  teach  that  which  he  does  not  himself 

*  See  page  28. 
219 


220  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

know,  and  he  should  be  expected  to  know  much  more 
than  he  is  required  to  teach.  This  is  a  point  upon  which 
too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid. 

(b)  The  Value  of  Psychology 

Psychology  is  the   interpretation  of   human   nature. 

There  is  nothing  strange  or  wonderful  about  it.     We 

talk  of  physiological  psychology,  or  of  descriptive  psy- 

chology, or  of  empirical  or  experimental  or 

Psychology,       faculty  psychology  ;  but  we  mean  only  human 

the  Interpre-  J  r   J  OJ 

tationof  nature.  Some  years  ago  a  mother  said  of 
Nature  ^er  daughter,  who,  at  the  year's  beginning, 

was  being  classified  for  psychology,  "  I  sup- 
pose she  is  to  take  up  the  study  of  the  soul." 

We  study  human  nature  and  the  laws  governing 
human  nature,  that  we  may  develop  common  sense,  — 
the  rarest  of  all  senses.  But  our  study  of  psychology 
usually  is  involved.  It  is  bound  up  with 
philosophy,  and  pedagogy,  and  metaphysics 


the  study  of      and  method  ;  and  so  intricate  is  it,  and  so 

Psychology 

mixed  and  confused  the  terminology,  that  in 
most  cases  not  only  are  the  students  bewildered,  but 
the  teachers  themselves,  when  they  pause  to  analyze 
their  work,  find  that  they  are  all  but  as  confused  as  the 
students. 

Psychology  is  studied  in  the  normal  school  and  by 
students  in  training  generally,  but  possessing  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  of  the  science  will  not  produce 
a  teacher. 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     221 

Only  when  the  facts  or  laws  of  psychology  are  applied 

in  pedagogy, — pedagogy  being  applied  psy- 

Law  vs.  AP-      chology, — only  then  is  the  latter  of  direct 

plication  of 

Law  value  to  the  teacher.     But  the  laws  cannot 

be  applied  rationally  or  understandingly  until 
they  are  grasped  and  comprehended.  As  Dr.  Emerson 
E.  White  says,  "  The  method  of  teaching  a  human  mind 
knowledge  involves  the  process  by  which  the  mind 
acquires  such  knowledge,  and  for  this  we  must  go  to 
psychology."  * 

In  beginning  his  work  as  a  teacher  of  normal  students, 
the  author  chose  for  a  text  in  one  of  his  classes  a  volume 
he  had  read  and  thought  he  had  studied,  a  volume  enti- 
tled an  Introduction  to  the  subject.  When  the  year  was 
half-spent,  he  began  to  realize  that  the  large 
Text'Books  number  of  students  possessed  only  vague, 
indefinite  ideas  of  the  subject  in  hand.  A 
few  weeks  later  he  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  bool:  was 
to  him  a  blank  ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  he  was 
driven  to  the  conclusion  that  the  psychologist  had  mis- 
taken his  calling.  Instead  of  an  Introduction  to  psychol- 
ogy, the  book  endeavored  to  cover  the  most  obscure  fields 
of  mentality ;  its  writer  had  floundered  beyond  his  depth 
and  ours,  had  used  terms  understood  neither  by  himself 
nor  by  us,  to  the  end  that  he  had  succeeded  admirably 
in  beclouding  our  minds  as  well  as  his  own. 

It  is  then  this  vagueness,  this  obscure  phraseology 
used  by  too  many  of  our  writers  on  psychology,  that 

*  The  Art  of  Teaching,  p.  10. 


222  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

renders  the  subject  dense.  This  is  one  reason  for  the 
feeling  on  the  part  of  many  who  study  psy- 
chology,  —  and  this  feeling  is  shared  by  many 


causes  Dis-       teachers  who,  without  a  professional  train- 
taste  for  the  ,  ,  ,  ,  r  i  •     ,  i     • 

subject  lng  have  been  reasonably  successful  in  their 

work,  —  that  psychology  is  pure  theory  and 
cannot  be  applied,  that  the  only  way  to  learn  to  teach  is 
to  teach.  Experience,  they  say,  is  not  merely  the  best, 
it  is  the  only  teacher,  and  the  teacher  moreover  is  born, 
not  made. 

The  fallacy  of  this  view  when  carried  to  the  ultimate 
is  apparent.  It  is  controverted  by  the  presence  of  the 
thousands  who  are  in  our  normal  schools.  It  is  not  nec- 
essary for  us  in  this  day  to  go  back  to  the  beginning  and 
to  work  our  way  through  experience.  Experience  on  our 

parts  is  undoubtedly  the  best  teacher,  but 
Experience**  tne  experiences  of  others  are  of  great  value 

for  us  also.  Again,  it  is  said  that  psychol- 
ogy cannot  tell  us  exactly  what  to  do,  or  what  method 
to  employ  ;  that,  depending  upon  circumstances,  one  may 
use  this  method  or  that  ;  any  one  of  several  may  apply 
with  equal  force.  There  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  this 
statement,  but  education  comes  through  the  process  of 
elimination  as  well  as  that  of  accretion.  Psychology, 
when  applied,  teaches  us  many  times  what  not  to  do,  and 
if  unable  in  a  given  instance  to  suggest  what  method,  or 
scheme  or  plan  should  be  operative,  it  may  point  with 
certainty  to  that  which  should  not  be  done. 

The  contention  is  sometimes  advanced  that  he  who 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     223 

would  be  a  teacher  needs  no  training  in  practice  or  in 
pedagogic  lines,  because,  having  the  experience  of  many 
teachers  as  a  guide,  he  can  readily  say  what  should  be 
imitated  and  what  avoided.  "  It  would  be  as  reasonable 
to  assert,"  says  Oscar  Browning,  "  that  an  invalid  who 
has  passed  through  the  hands  of  many  physicians  would 
make  an  excellent  doctor."  If  the  study  of  psychology 
and  normal  school  work  is  to  be  effective  and  to  throw 
light  upon  educational  problems,  theory  and  practice 
must  go  together. 

(c)  Attitude  of  the  Prospective  Teacher 

Most  of  those  who  enter  the  normal  school  or  pro- 
fessional course  come  fresh  from  secondary  or  other  in- 
stitutions of  learning  that  they  may  prepare  for  teach- 
ing. What  has  inspired  them  to  look  in  this  direction  ? 
What  has  inspired  you  ?  A  brother  or  sister  or  parent 
or  friend  has  taught,  or  is  teaching,  and  why  not  you  ; 
you  must  earn  a  livelihood  to  support  either  yourself  or 
family  members  ;  you  think  you  love  children,  or  enjoy 
instructing,  or  glory  in  power,  or  believe  you 
Reasons  for  have  ability  as  a  disciplinarian,  or  consider 

Entering  the  * 

Profession  the  work  easy  or  clean  or  dignified  or  above 
reproach,  or  the  hours  short ;  you  desire  to 
tide  over  the  period  between  graduation  and  matrimony ; 
you  are  making  it  a  stepping-stone  to  the  occupation  or 
profession  you  expect  to  follow  through  life ;  you  see  in 
teaching  opportunity  to  accomplish  great  good  and  to  be 
of  service  to  mankind  ;  you  come  for  one  or  more  or  all 


224  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

or  none  of  these  reasons,  but  if  asked  why  you  are  in  the 
training  school  or  are  teaching  to-day,  you  might  be  un- 
able to  return  a  satisfactory  reply. 

The  student  who  enters  the  normal  school  comes  from 
an  academic  atmosphere  —  an  atmosphere  of 
studY>  of  Play>  of  companionship.  But  how 


nigh  school      different  the  atmosphere  of  the  high  school 

is  Academic  ..    ,  r        .....  _ 

from  that  of  the  professional  institution.  In 
the  former  there  was  work  to  be  done,  —  so  many  prob- 
lems in  algebra,  so  many  pages  in  history,  a  certain  set 
of  experiments  in  physics  or  chemistry.  In  a  general 
sense  the  student  knows  when  he  has  accomplished  his 
task.  Many  times  he  works  for  the  answer  and  if  the 
answer  be  wrong,  either  the  book  or  the  teacher  so  in- 
forms him.  In  the  high  school  the  student  has  duties 
and  obligations  to  be  sure,  but  the  processes  are  aca- 
demic. In  the  normal  school  there  are  two,  three  or  four 
years  of  work  before  him,  and  still  further  in  the  future 
lies  actual  participation  in  his  chosen  profession.  That 
it  is  difficult  to  dissociate  these  academic  standards  from 
the  professional  attitude  it  is  necessary  to  assume,  all  will 
agree  ;  and  yet  how  essential  that  the  latter  be  made 

a  part  of  the  very  life  of  the  teacher, 
Sooi°Attf-  though  not  that  the  view  should  be  less  op- 
tudeisPro-  timistic,  or  the  life  be  less  full,  less  joyous 

fessional  _,  .  . 

than  before.  There  is  now  a  motive,  a  pur- 
pose, because  the  teacher  should  have  a  distinct,  clear- 
cut  aim. 

With  a  definite  motive  comes  a  somewhat  changed 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     225 

method,  a  new  attitude.  In  the  academic  atmosphere 
there  is  much  of  this,  that,  or  the  other  before  the  stu- 
dent, with  a  more  or  less  definite  answer  in  each  case. 
In  the  normal  school  you  study  psychology  or  pedagogy 
or  method  as  applied  to  the  various  subjects  with  which 
you  are  supposed  to  be  familiar,  and  if  you  are  not  cau- 
tious you  lose  or  do  not  gain  the  very  student  attitude  you 
seek.  No  longer  is  it  possible  to  clear  the  way  with  a 
Yes  or  No.  More  and  more  must  the  student  do  his  own 
thinking.  It  is  not  enough  to  know  that  the  book  says 
so  and  so,  though  too  often  in  the  elementary  and  second- 
ary schools  is  this  considered  sufficient ;  the  question  is, 
"  What  do  you  think  about  it  ? " 

An  illustration  is  in  point.  A  group  of  boys  fresh 
from  a  recitation  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  high  school 
were  talking  over  the  recent  lesson.  It  was  evident  that 
one  of  the  young  men  had  thought  himself  prepared  be- 
fore attending  the  class;  and,  because  he 
Thought  ha(j  devoted  more  time  to  this  particular  les- 

Values— an  .        - 

niustration  son  than  he  had  to  any  other,  he  was  sur- 
prised that  the  teacher  should  have  shown 
dissatisfaction.  One  of  his  fellows  remarked  that  time 
put  upon  a  lesson  was  not  the  only  factor  to  be  consid- 
ered. He  assured  his  classmate  that  in  the  recitations  of 
Mr.  A.  one  must  be  able  to  answer  the  questions,  to  be 
sure,  but  he  must  read  between  the  lines  as  well ;  he 
must  look  up  the  implications  and  prepare  upon  any  pos- 
sible issues  growing  out  of  the  lesson.  As  I  heard  these 
comments,  serious  and  to  the  point,  I  said  to  myself, 

Standards — 15 


226  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

"  This  satisfies  me ;  Mr.  A.  is  a  good  teacher  and  will 
succeed." 

(d)  Ability  to  Teach 

The  individual  who  seeks  training  in  a  professional 

school  that  he  may  qualify  for  teaching  should  have  a 

real  desire  to  enter  the  profession,  and  if 

Province  of       possible  should  possess  the  natural  qualities 

the  Training      most  essential  to  the  teacher.     In  any  event 

School  .  ,  .     . 

he  must  be  assured,  and  must  assure  his  in- 
structors before  he  is  allowed  to  be  graduated,  that  he 
has  the  ability  to  teach.  No  normal  school  should  grad- 
uate as  a  teacher  one  who  does  not  give  ample  evidence 
of  superior  ability  in  his  chosen  field ;  and  those,  who, 
after  a  reasonable  time  spent  in  a  training  school  do  not 
promise  well,  should  be  advised  to  pursue  some  other  oc- 
cupation. One  does  himself  great  injustice  to  enter  the 
profession  unless  he  is  in  every  way,  by  nature  and  train- 
ing, adapted  thereto.  A  still  greater  injustice  he  does 
those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  come  under  his  in- 
struction. 

B.  THE  TEACHER'S  READING 

Every  teacher  and  every  student,  as  well  as  everyone 
who  pretends  to  interest  himself  in  educational  affairs, 
should  begin  early  to  accumulate  such  books 
as  are  best  adapted  to  his  needs.     Discretion 
should  be   exercised   in  the  choosing  of  a 
book,  as  a  teacher  can  afford  to  read  only  the  best ;  and 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     227 

he  should  purchase  only  those  that  will  go  to  make  up  a 
working  library.  They  must  be  selected  with  more  care 
than  was  shown  by  the  man,  less  literary  than  wealthy, 
who  in  furnishing  his  home  requested  the  dealer  to  send 
him  some  books.  On  being  questioned  as  to  what  par- 
ticular line  of  reading  would  best  suit  him,  the  purchaser 
replied  that  books  with  blue,  green  and  brown  covers, 
and  with  gilt  lettering  on  the  backs,  such  as  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  see  in  the  homes  of  his  friends,  were  of 
the  kind  he  wished. 

The  teacher  must  not  look  upon  the  book  as  an  article 
of  furniture  or  a  bit  of  decoration.  He  must  use  the 
book  as  a  companion  and  should  treat  it  as  a  friend  and 
counselor.  It  is  better  to  read  a  good  book  thoroughly 
and  to  reread  it,  than  to  plunge  through  the  pages  of 

many  volumes  of  weak,  superficial  matter. 

A  book  should  never  be  mutilated,  but  no 


crimination       volume  is  too  good  to  be  used  :  and  the  per- 

in  Reading 

Essential  to       son  who  is  tempted  to  mark  the  passages 

Good  Results  •,  •,  ~  ~«  .  t 

and  make  notes  and  comments  upon  the 
margins  is  the  one  who  is  likely  to  get  the  most  from 
his  book. 

No  teacher  can  afford  to  read  a  book  simply  because 
it  is  for  the  moment  popular  or  because  some  one  else  has 
read  it.  Many  people  read  books  as  they  see  an  art  gal- 
lery, or  as  they  do  Europe.  In  their  desire  to  see  every- 
thing, they  observe  little,  comprehend  less,  and  remember 
almost  nothing  at  all.  Each  book  should  be  selected 
with  a  purpose,  and  so  read  that  the  mind  may  retain 


228  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

for  use  the  most  valuable  thoughts  and  ideas  contained 
therein. 

It  is  an  admirable  plan  for  the  teacher  to  discuss  his 
book  with  a  friend.  Sometimes  it  is  best  to  consult  with 
a  member  of  the  profession  or  with  a  fellow  student ;  and 
again  suggestions  of  much  value  may  come  by  talking 
with  those  engaged  in  other  lines  of  work, 
interchange  whose  thoughts  are  directed  upon  other  pur- 
Bookevaiues  suits.  The  eye  of  the  critic  should  not  dim 
itself  by  looking  for  fallacies  or  by  searching 
out  the  mistakes,  because  the  aim  should  be  to  get  from 
the  book  the  greatest  possible  good  it  can  give,  selecting 
for  afterthought  and  consideration  the  portions  of  great- 
est value,  then  holding  them  in  readiness  for  instant  use, 
just  as  the  finer,  more  thoroughly  ground  material  is  held 
in  suspension  in  a  rapidly  flowing  stream. 

Books  of  a  reference  nature  and  those  not  likely  to 
be  in  frequent  demand  may  be  secured  from  the  public 
library.  The  number  and  completeness  of  our  public  libra- 
ries have  made  unnecessary  the  purchase,  by  the  individ- 
ual teacher,  of  such  volumes.  A  borrowed  book  should 
be  treated  with  the  utmost  care  and  returned  at  the 
reader's  earliest  convenience  to  private  owner  or  public 
library  without  injury. 

Read  much,  read  thoroughly,  read  the  best,  read  with 
a  purpose,  read  to  remember ;  be  critical  within  reason, 
judge  with  caution,  compare  without  haste  and  conclude 
with  a  willingness  to  revise  your  opinion,  for  the  light  of 
to-morrow  may  dispel  the  ignorance  of  to-day. 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     229 

C.  THE  TEACHER'S  ASSOCIATES 

If  the  effect  of  example  upon  the  pupils  is  such  as  to 
make  for  higher  or  lower  standards  of  moral- 
ity, so  is  the  effect  upon  the  teacher's  life  of 
worthy  a  higher  or  a  lower  grade  according  as  his 

Associates 

associates  are  selected  from  this  or  that  body 
of  individuals. 

The  opportunities  of  the  teacher  are  unexcelled  in  the 
matter  of  choice  of  society.  The  best  is  open  to  him. 
Not  only  should  he  choose  to  be  a  part  of  the  best  and 
highest,  but  he  should  make  it  his  province,  his  privilege 
and  his  duty,  to  help  mold  and  shape  the  social  atmos- 
phere, and  to  do  his  part  in  perfecting  and  uplifting  the 
lives  of  the  individuals  with  whom  he  may  be  placed. 
While  not  seeking  to  shun  responsibilities  that  may  be 
his  in  dealing  with  the  less  desirable  elements  of  society, 
and  while  looking  down  upon  or  ignoring  none,  it  is  well 
to  look  upward  rather  than  downward,  forward  instead 
of  backward  ;  better  it  is  to  touch  elbows  with  those  who 
in  intellectual  attainment  and  strength  of  character  are 
his  superiors  than  to  lower  his  own  standards  by  sub- 
tracting from  himself  that  which  marks  the  man. 

D.   CONTACT  WITH  THE  ISSUES  OF  LIFE 

(a)  Standards  of  Morality 

No  teacher  can  do  the  best  of  which  he  is  capable,  or 
be  in  the  community  the  element  of  strength  he  should 
become,  unless  his  interests  extend  beyond  the  confines 


230  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

of  the  schoolroom.  The  needs  of  his  pupils  should  have 
first  place  in  his  thoughts  and  he  should  not  use  the  pro- 
fession as  a  stepping-stone  to  something  else, 
but  ne  c3-nn°t  be  of  the  greatest  value  to  his 


terestsDe-        pupils   unless  his   horizon   is  broader   than 

sirable 

mere  teaching,  as  the  term  is  generally  un- 
derstood. He  must  so  live  and  so  teach  that  on  going  into 
a  far  country  the  talents  which  he  has  given  his  pupils 
will  not  be  hid  in  the  earth,  but  will  be  used  by  them  so 
as  to  be  a  source  of  additional  gain.  To  do  this  he  must 
constantly  keep  before  himself  and  his  students  high  stand- 
ards of  morality.  True  education  lies  not  merely  in  facts 
accumulated,  or  in  the  making  of  intellectual  misers,  but 
rather  hi  an  income  investment  on  the  facts  learned  and 
the  turning  of  them  into  intellectual  capital.  The  unit 
of  measurement  is  that  of  moral  worth. 
Let  the  teacher  see  to  it  that  his  contact  with  life  is 

first  and  foremost  of  that  wholesome,  health- 
Lookingup  frd  character  which  makes  for  moral  growth 
to  Moral  an(j  strength.  It  is  only  when  the  teacher  is 

Standards 

closely  in  touch  with  the  issues  of  life,  with 
the  business  and  pleasure,  the  goings  and  comings,  the 
ups  and  downs  of  actual  living,  that  he  is  in  a  position  to 
realize  fully  the  increasing  need  of  advanced  standards 
of  morality;  and  it  is  only  under  such  conditions  that  he 
is  in  a  position  to  appreciate  the  mighty  advances  that 
have  been  made  and  are  being  made  in  the  moral  tone  of 
the  people  everywhere. 
And  these  increased  moral  standards  are  to  be  realized 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     231 

only  as  there  is  constantly  before  the  mind  the  lofty  purpose 
and  high  ideal  as  suggested  in  such  lines  as: 

"  My  child,  choose  well  the  colors 
Which  thou  wilt  use  to-day 
In  adding  to  the  painting  of  thy  life; 
And  ere  thy  brush  shall  trace  a  single  line, 
Be  sure  that  in  thy  soul  there  reigns  supreme 
The  image  of  that  which  thou  dost  long  to  be." 

(b)  Material  and  Industrial  Development 

In  the  second  place,  the  teacher  should  keep  in  touch 
with  the  growth  of  our  commercial  interests.  The  ma- 
terial development  and  Industrial  progress  of  our  country 
should  interest  every  member  of  the  body  politic.  What- 
ever may  be  one's  rank,  station,  financial  condition  or 
profession,  it  is  incumbent  upon  him  not  only  to  take 
an  interest  in,  but  to  have  a  share  in  the  great  onward 
movement  which  makes  for  changed  conditions  in  the 
material  world,  the  better  to  understand  fully  the  effect 
produced  upon  the  individual  and  upon  society. 

It  is  needless  for  school  people  longer  to  ignore  these 
vast  industrial  movements;  indeed  it  is  all  but  criminal 
to  keep  apart  from  these  stupendous  forces  that,  whether 
we  approve  or  not,  must  go  forward  and  help  to  shape 
the  moral  thought  and  mental  warp  and  woof  of  all 
human  understanding.  The  attitude,  the  tendencies, 
the  achievements  of  the  individual,  in  whatever  field  he 
may  labor,  are  largely  influenced  and  shaped  by  this 
industrial  feeling;  and  our  lives,  as  the  days  come  and  go, 
are  shot  through  and  through  by  the  achievements  in  the 


232  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

industrial  world.  The  teacher  must  keep  thoroughly  in 
touch  with  the  movements  and  forces  that  mean  so  much 
to  the  progress  of  a  people. 

Problems  of  heating,  lighting  and  ventilation,  of  trans- 
portation by  land  and  water,  of  the  distribu- 
ti°n  °f  water  supply,  are  constantly  to  be  met 


be  consid-  an(j  solved.  The  postal,  telegraph,  cable  and 
telephone  service,  sanitary  conditions,  labor- 
saving  devices  and  instruments  and  machines  that  do 
the  work  of  many  men  hi  so  short  a  time  as  to  make  it 
unbelievable;  —  these  must  be  perfected.  Improvement  is 
the  order  of  the  day  in  printing,  in  making  articles  of 
clothing,  and  of  shelter,  in  converting  raw  materials  into 
usable  products;  in  manufacture,  agriculture,  mining, 
lumbering;  in  machinery  and  appliances  everywhere. 
The  cause  and  progress  of  war  and  the  reasons  for  the 
establishment  and  reign  of  peace  must  be  understood. 
No  teacher  can  expect  to  hold  himself  apart  from  the 
resistless  movement  industrial-wise  and  still  retain  his 
hold  upon  the  normal  boy  in  this  modern  age. 

(c)  ^Esthetic  Feeling 

By  aesthetic  feeling,  the  third  element  going  to  make 
up  the  contact  with  life's  issues,  I  mean  appreciation  of 
and  actual  participation  in  the  best  and  noblest  and  love- 
liest which  the  world  has  to  give  in  song  and  story  and 
conversation,  in  color  and  harmony,  in  landscape  and 
animal  and  plant.  Sunlight  and  shade,  bird  song  and  word 
picture,  towering  cathedral  and  mountain  torrent,  all  are 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     233 

inspiring  and  uplifting;  and  it  is  contact  with  these  that 
the  teacher  needs  to  strengthen  his  love  for  the  beautiful 
and  to  help  him  to  keep  the  ears  and  eyes  and  sensibili- 
ties of  his  pupils  ever  attuned  to  those  sights  and  sounds 
that  go  to  make  up  the  beautiful  life. 
The  thing  aesthetic  is  the  thing  cultural;  the  true  and 
the  right,  if  useful,  are  cultural.  Each  day 
Elements  *ne  teacher  should  renew  and  reinspire  him- 
self by  drinking  in  the  beauties  of  nature  or 
of  art  or  music  that  he  may  keep  fresh  and  optimistic. 
These  things  make  for  culture,  which  is  the  capacity  for 
nobler  thinking,  for  higher  ideals,  for  keener  sensibilities, 
for  deeper  sympathies.  Culture  is  exemplified  in  a  grow- 
ing spirit  of  tolerance  for  the  less  opportunitied  or  more 
unfortunate  than  ourselves;  it  aims  at  an  increased  ap- 
preciation of  inspiring  music,  uplifting  art,  ennobling 
literature,  strengthening  oratory.  Abhorrence  of  wrong 
and  love  of  right  are  its  trainbearers  and  without  it  cannot 
be  had  that  true,  strong,  helpful  character  which  makes 
for  success  and  joy  and  peace. 

E.   READING   CIRCLES,  EXTENSION  COURSES,  CORRESPOND- 
ENCE AND  SUMMER  SCHOOLS 

To  grow  and  keep  abreast  of  the  times  the  teacher  must 
read  and  study  and  investigate.  He  can  do  much  by  him- 
self, but  in  company  with  others  working  along  similar 
lines  he  may  accomplish  more.  As  an  institution  of  culture 
and  learning,  the  reading  circle,  if  properly  conducted,  is 
of  value.  If  a  book  or  syllabus  is  to  be  studied,  much 


234  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

profitable  work  may  be  done  in  the  reading  circle,  but 
having  chosen  the  book  for  study,  the  problem  of  organ- 
ization must  be  carefully  considered,  or  the  work  will  be 
aimless  and  lacking  in  results.  It  is  always  best  to  select 
a  leader,  one  who  will  hold  argument  or  discussion  within 
bounds,  and  who  will  keep  the  members  from  drifting 
away  from  the  point  under  consideration.  To  obtain  the 
greatest  good  trivial  detail  must  be  eliminated,  and  each 
member  must  contribute. 

The  extension  course  is  sometimes  of  the  "get  rich 
quick"  character  and  is  amusing  and  entertaining  only. 
Again,  the  well-selected  extension  course  for  which  one 
prepares  and  submits  reports,  is  an  element  of  intrinsic 
worth,  and  one  to  be  reckoned  with  educationally.  If 
the  teacher  finds  opportunity,  he  may  with  slight  ex- 
penditure of  time  and  money  gain  benefit  and  inspira- 
tion. 

The  correspondence  school  has  long  since  passed  the 
experimental  stage.  Thousands  of  people  the  country 
over  have  registered  and  pursued  courses  in  one  or  another 
of  our  correspondence  schools.  For  those  who  have  not 
had  the  advantage  of  adequate  school  training  or  who 
find  themselves  delinquent  in  a  particular  field,  the  ad- 
vantages of  correspondence  work  are  many.  Care  must 
be  exercised,  however,  in  the  choosing  of  the 
suitable  for  subject  to  be  studied,  as  certain  lines  of 
Correspond-  work  lend  themselves  to  correspondence  in- 

enceWork  . 

struction  while    others   do  not.     A    course 
in  manual  training  by  correspondence  is  one  of  the  an- 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     235 

nouncements  recently  made  and  would  be  almost  as  ridicu- 
lous as  to  attempt  to  teach  morals  and  ethics  in  this 
secondhand  manner.  History,  civics,  mechanical  draw- 
ing, bookkeeping  and  certain  other  subjects  may  be  pur- 
sued with  profit  under  the  direction  of  the  well-conducted 
correspondence  school. 

The  summer  school  is  more  of  a  problem  to  the  teacher, 
although  it  presents  greater  opportunities  than  does  the 
reading  circle  or  the  extension  course.  The  assumption  is 
that  the  teacher  needs  rest  and  quiet  during  the  vaca- 

tion period;  and  then  it  is  that  the  summer 
The  summer  school  is  active.  It  is  nevertheless  the  fact 
Advantages  tnat  tne  summer  school  may  offer  the  work 

of  which  the  teacher  stands  in  need,  and  at 
the  same  time  furnish  the  opportunity  for  the  change 
which  is  itself  recreation.  Especially  is  the  summer 
school  valuable  to  the  out-of-town  teacher,  the  one  who 
needs  contact  with  people  and  books,  music  and  activity. 
To  such  a  student  or  teacher,  the  four  or  six  weeks  of  the 
summer  school  may  be  of  inestimable  value,  and  to  those 
who  cannot  afford  the  advantage  of  advanced  study 
during  the  school  year,  it  supplies  that  which  they 

would  otherwise  remain  without.  The  sum- 
Dangers  mer  school  student  must  be  cautious  lest  he 

from  Over- 

work  in  the       overestimate  his  powers  of  accomplishment. 


Should    he    overwork    during    his    summer 
course  he  will  not  return  to  his  classes  with 

the  vigor  and  enthusiasm  they  have  a  right  to  expect  of 

him. 


236  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

F.  TEACHERS'  MEETINGS,  INSTITUTES  AND  CONVENTIONS 

The  teachers'  meeting  of  twenty  years  ago  is  rapidly 
passing,  although  in  counties  and  towns  of  the  isolated 
districts  will  still  be  found  the  traditional 
tifeeNewand  institute.  Where  the  meeting  or  conven- 
tion occurs  at  a  stated  time,  and  all  the 
teachers  in  a  town  or  district  are  compelled  by  law  to  at- 
tend each  session  of  the  entire  meeting,  which  covers  a 
period  of  several  days  or  a  week,  it  loses  its  power  for 
good.  The  teacher  who  has  just  completed  a  term  of 
work  needs  rest  rather  than  enforced  attendance  upon 
lectures,  where  he  listens  perhaps  to  one  who  knows 
less  about  the  subject  that  he  is  presenting  than  does 
the  listener  himself.  On  the  other  hand,  no  factor  lends 
itself  better  to  the  improvement  of  teaching,  or  is  better 
suited  to  keep  the  teachers  happy  and  contented  or  to 
make  them  progressive  and  enthusiastic,  than  the  well- 
ordered  teachers'  convention.  Those  who  complain  that 
attendance  at  an  institute  is  a  complete  loss  of  time 
have  been  unhappy  in  their  selection  of  lecture  or  speaker, 
or  have  gone  in  the  spirit  of  criticism.  We  get  from  a 
thing  largely  in  proportion  as  we  carry  to  it;  and  no  one 
is  so  well  informed  but  that  he  may  get  some  word  of 
help  or  encouragement  from  the  lesson  or  sermon  or 
lecture  to  which  he  listens. 

An  element  not  to  be  disregarded  is  that  of  friendships 
formed,  of  companionships,  of  associations,  and  of  the 
renewed  spirit  which  comes  from  the  large  number 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     237 

gathered   for  one  purpose.     While  it  is  the   individual 
who  must  do  his  own  work,  nevertheless  the 
Numbers6  °      teacher  who,  failing  to  see  results  and  doubt- 
ing in  his  own  mind  the  outcome  of  his  ef- 
forts, sees  hi  the  great  body  of  those  who  engage  hi  the 
same  great  undertaking,  the  forecast  of  final   achieve- 
ment; and  he  carries  with  him  to  his  work  the  hope  and 
faith  in  humankind  that  was  slipping  from  him. 

It  is  often  best  for  the  teacher  to  listen  to  the  exposition 
of  those  subjects  which  he  himself  does  not  teach,  or  for 
which  he  is  not  responsible,  the  better  to  see  the  rela- 
tion of  other  subjects  to  his  own,  and  to  appreciate  the 
value  and  worth  of  such  subjects  and  note  the  applica- 
tion of  method.  More  and  more,  as  the  purely  theoret- 
ical attitude  of  the  institute  is  being  displaced  by  work  of 
an  eminently  practical  nature,  by  a  setting  forth  of  the 
real  problems  and  the  results  of  experience  and  investi- 
gation, the  teachers'  meeting  is  coming  to  be  of  great 
value. 

G.   QUALITIES   ESSENTIAL  TO   GROWTH 

(a)  Honesty 

It  is,  in  a  sense,  well-nigh  impossible  to  designate  this 
or  that  particular  individual  characteristic  as  the  one 
necessary  to  success  in  that  mental  workshop,  the  school. 
Among  what  I  shall  call  the  essential  qualities  in  the 
teacher's  make  up,  however,  honesty,  integrity  and  truth 
stand  out  as  being  of  first  importance.  I  have  not  in 


238  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

mind  the  from-time-to-time  honesty,  practised  by  many, 
the  kind  that  works  under  certain  conditions  and  lapses 
at  intervals,  a  variety  of  Sunday  honesty,  if  you  please. 
No  doubt  we  are  all  more  or  less  inclined  to  reach  our 
high  watermark  of  absolute  truthfulness  at  rare  intervals, 
just  as  our  mental  or  physical  selves  attain  their  maximum 
efficiency  only  from  time  to  time,  sweeping  back  to  the  ordi- 
nary standards  of  everyday  life.  What  I  have  in  mind  is 
the  clean-cut,  out-in-the-open  honesty  that  is  active  ever 
and  always,  not  simply  when  a  great  point  is  at  issue. 

"  This  above  all :  to  thine  own  self  be  true, 
And  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day, 
Thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any  man." 

Most  of  us  will  be  honest  and  truthful  in  matters  of  serious 
import,  though  we  do  not  stick  to  the  truth  so  readily 
in  word  or  deed,  when  the  trifling  circumstances  or  in- 
significant matter  is  in  question.  There  are  few  who 
defraud  a  neighbor  of  a  large  bill;  but  it  is  thought  to 
be  a  matter  of  equity  to  defraud  the  street  car  company 
out  of  the  five  cent  fare  which  the  conductor  thinks  he 
has  collected. 

Especially  among  teachers  should  an  absolutely  strict 
standard  of  honesty  be  adhered  to;  and  no  teacher  who 
works  under  less  than  this  absolute  standard  could  create 
in  the  mind  of  his  pupils  the  ideals  they  should  possess. 

It  ought  not  to  be  a  matter  of  extraordinary  comment 
that  this  or  that  individual  be  spoken  of  as  strictly  honest. 
Indeed,  the  rare  thing  and  the  one  to  draw  comment 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH    239 

should  be  the  statement  that  a  given  man  was  not  abso- 
lutely dependable.  If  each  human  being  were  as  honest 
and  truthful  and  reliable  as  he  would  wish  his  fellow  to 
be  when  dealing  with  him,  how  mightily  improved  would 
we  find  our  standards. 

But  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  particularly,  this  atti- 
tude of  truthfulness  must  be  real,  not  sugar  coated. 
If  there  is  pretense  or  sham,  the  first  to  become  aware  of 
it  will  be  the  pupil;  and  the  effect  upon  him  is  anything 
but  good,  as  he  loses  confidence  in  the  one  who  should 
be  his  model. 

Alice  Gary  says: 

"True  worth  is  in  being,  not  seeming, 
In  doing  each  day  that  goes  by 
Some  little  good,  not  in  dreaming 
Of  great  things  to  do,  bye  and  bye  — 
For  whatever  men  say  in  their  blindness 
And  spite  of  the  fancies  of  youth 
There's  nothing  so  kingly  as  kindness 
And  nothing  so  royal  as  iruth." 

(b)  Open-Mindcdness 

A  quality  absolutely  essential  to  the  teacher,  if  growth 
is  to  keep  pace  with  experience,  is  that  of  open-minded- 
ness.  The  attitude  exemplified  by  the  statement,  "I 
am  willing  to  be  convinced,  but  you  will 
impossible  to  convince  me,"  does 


vs.  i  Know        not    militate    in    the    direction    of    develop- 

It  All 

ment  and  growth.  The  teacher  must  be 
stable,  to  be  sure;  he  must  not  be  turned  by  every  theory 
and  statement  that  confronts  him,  but  he  must  ever  be 


240  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

ready  and  willing  to  know  more;  and  to  do  this,  no  idea 

or  whim  of  his  should  be  too  sacred  to  be  displaced  by 

one  containing  a  larger  measure  of  truth. 
"If  I  were  to  frame  a  text,"  said  Colonel  Parker,  "it 

would  be,  '  O  God,  preserve  me  from  the  foregone  conclu- 
sion.' "  What  the  Colonel  styled  the  suspended 
judgment,  a  mind  attitude  that  shows  a  will- 


scant  Evi-        ingness  to  believe  in  oneself,  but  reserves, 

dence  °  .  .  .  ;  , 

at  the   same    time,   cntical  judgment  until 
the  evidence  is  all  in,  —  this  helps  to  constitute  the  open 
mind.     No  mind  can  be  great  that  draws  its  conclusions 
only  to  meet  those  already  formed.    The  teacher  who  is 
honest  and  sincere  need  have   no    fear   of 
of     being  looked  upon  as  lacking  in  strength 


the  Great          of  character,  if  he  is  ever  ready  to  receive 

Mind  3 

and  give  consideration  to  advice  and  counsel 
from  any  source  whatsoever.  Only  a  small  mind  can 
be  self-centered  and  self-satisfied.  The  great  mind  is 
always  open  to  catch  the  ray  that  flashes  out  in  word  or 
act  or  accomplishment,  and  so  to  focus  it  as  to  increase 
its  brilliancy  and  power. 

(c)  Spirit  of  Absolute  Responsibility 

The  matter  of  responsibility  has  its  roots  firmly  in 
what  has  already  been  discussed  under  honesty  and 
open-mindedness.  The  strictly  honest,  absolutely  truth- 
ful man  is  the  responsible  man,  —  responsible  in  so  far  as 
his  knowledge  and  capacity  are  concerned.  The  man 
who,  knowing  the  right  or  the  line  of  action  that  should 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     241 

be  pursued,  deviates  from  or  ignores  it,  can  in  no  measure 
be  considered  as  possessing  the  spirit  of  responsibility. 

Dr.  Andrew  S.  Draper  sets  forth  admirably  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  responsible  character  and  the  man 
lacking  in  this  respect.  He  says : 

"In  the  winter  of  1891-92,  a  train,  for  some  trivial 
reason,  came  to  an  unusual  stop  near  the  village  of 
Hastings  on  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River 
Railroad,  at  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  and  historic  part 
of  the  Hudson  River  Valley.  The  unusual  stoppage  of 
the  train  created  the  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  unusual 
care.  The  rules  of  the  company  were  explicit.  It  be- 
came the  immediate  duty  of  the  trainman  who  had 
charge  of  the  rear  platform,  to  take  his  lantern  and  go 
back  and  warn  any  approaching  train.  Mere  stick  that 
he  proved  himself  to  be,  if  he  had  only  followed  his 
orders  all  would  have  been  well.  It  was  dark,  but  not 
stormy.  There  was  no  excuse.  If  he  had  possessed 
any  of  the  spirit  which  the  public  has  the  right  to  expect 
of  a  trainman,  he  would  have  met  the  occasion  and  pro- 
tected his  train,  orders  or  no  orders.  He  had  no  spirit ; 
he  disobeyed  his  orders ;  the  through  express  crashed 
through  the  rear  of  the  standing  train,  a  score  of  people 
were  killed,  and  as  many  more  maimed  and  mangled  for 
life. 

"  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  after  this  unfor- 
tunate occurrence,  I  left  Albany  to  come  West,  in  the 
last  car  of  the  second  section  of  the  southwestern  limited 
express.  The  two  trains,  making  more  than  forty  miles 

Standards — 16 


242  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

an  hour,  were  less  than  ten  minutes  apart.  The  weather 
had  become  very  cold,  the  wind  was  blowing  a  gale,  and 
the  snow  was  so  thick  that  one  could  not  see  the  length 
of  a  car.  When  in  the  snow  belt  between  Utica  and 
Syracuse,  the  engineer  whistled  so  sharply  and  the  air 
brakes  were  set  so  suddenly,  and  with  such  terrific  effect, 
that  it  was  evident  there  was  serious  occasion  for  an 
abrupt  stop.  As  the  train  slowed  up  and  stopped,  the 
cries  of  a  man  were  heard  outside.  Opening  the  rear 
door  the  figure  of  a  man  with  unlighted  lamps,  climbed 
up  into  the  vestibule  and  fell  upon  the  platform  ex- 
hausted. His  emotions  were  uncontrollable,  and  he  con- 
tinually murmured, '  I  stopped  her,  he  saw  me ;  I  brought 
her  down.'  Assisting  him  inside  the  car,  we  slowly 
gathered  the  facts.  This  was  the  rear  trainman  on  the 
first  section  of  our  double  train.  His  train  had  over- 
hauled a  freight  wreck  and  had  been  obliged  to  stop. 
The  circumstances  were  appalling,  the  danger  was  immi- 
nent, but  the  man  who  was  responsible  proved  equal  to 
the  emergency.  He  buttoned  up  his  coat,  took  his 
lamps  and  ran  up  the  track  into  the  darkness  and  the 
blinding  storm.  If  he  had  obeyed  his  orders  in  a  per- 
functory way  only,  it  would  have  been  of  no  avail.  His 
lamps  were  blown  out,  and  he  exhausted  his  last  match 
in  vain  efforts  to  relight  them  in  the  wind.  Only  unu- 
sual resources  would  now  distinguish  him  from  any 
tramp,  in  the  mind  of  the  engineer.  But  his  spirit  rose 
to  the  occasion.  Removing  his  coat  and  taking  that  in 
one  hand  and  his  lightless  lamps  in  the  other,  he  ran  on  up 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     243 

the  track.  Soon  our  train  came  in  sight.  He  followed 
the  track ;  he  got  within  the  glare  of  the  headlight ;  he 
frantically  swung  his  lamps  and  his  coat  and  hallooed 
with  all  his  might  to  the  monarch  in  the  cab ;  he  heard 
the  whistle  of  the  engine  and  heard  the  brakes  take  hold, 
got  off  the  track  as  the  train  was  close  upon  him,  and, 
as  it  stopped,  was  helped  into  the  last  car.  That  was 
spirit.  It  had  saved  his  train ;  perhaps  ours  also."* 

An  illustration  in  line  with  the  above  and  emphasizing 
the  necessity  for  a  more  universally  recognized  spirit  of 
responsibility,  is  fresh  in  my  mind.  On  the  night  of  the 
New  Year,  1905,  I  left  Chicago,  traveling  southward  on 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  Late  in  the  evening,  and 
after  most  of  the  occupants  of  the  car  had  retired,  our 
engine  whistled  sharply  and  the  train  soon  stopped.  After 
a  few  minutes  delay,  I  left  my  seat  and  stepped  out  upon 
the  track.  As  a  lamp  burned  away  up  toward  the  en- 
gine, I  made  my  way  forward  and  saw  a  half  dozen  men 
standing  on  either  side  of  a  dark  object.  Pushing  my 
way  within  the  circle  I  asked,  "  Is  he  dead  ? "  As  no  one 
seemed  to  know,  I  endeavored  to  ascertain.  Inquiry  as 
to  the  location  of  the  nearest  station  sent  a  trainman  back 
to  search.  The  unfortunate  « tramp '  was  carried  to  the 
small  station  close  by,  but  our  engine  had  done  its  work. 
Lingering  to  the  last  I  stepped  upon  the  train  with  one 
of  the  brakemen ;  and  there  were  tears  in  his  eyes  as  he 
turned  to  me  and  said  :  "  The  third  man  this  train  has 
killed  this  week." 

*  Proceedings  California  Teachers  Association,  1897,  pp.  75~7^- 


244  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

This  then  is  lack  of  the  sense  of  responsibility,  or  of 

spirit,  if  you  please,  —  lack  on  the  part  of  the 

Responsi-         man  who  governs  the  engine  it  may  be  :  lack 

bility  Lack-  ' 

ing  AII  on  the  part  of  the  company  that  requires  or 


permits  too  many  consecutive  hours  of  duty 
without  sufficient  rest,  or  failure  on  the  part 
of  the  employee  to  refuse  duties  for  which  he  is  unfitted  ; 
lack  exemplified  in  a  time  schedule  fitted  for  speed  rather 
than  for  safety,  and  brought  about  by  the  demands  of  the 
public,  or  the  intense  desire  for  the  "almighty  dollar  "  by 
the  railroad  stockholders  ;  lack  shown  in  toleration  of  a 
system  that  permits  a  man  to  purchase  the  liquor  that 
renders  him  oblivious  to  the  oncoming  train  ;  —  somewhere 
there  is  a  lack,  a  sad,  criminal,  inexcusable  lack  of  respon- 
sibility ;  and  until  the  teacher,  having  learned  to  practise 
this  virtue,  shall  thus  be  enabled,  little  by  little,  to  incul- 
cate in  the  pupils  the  same  spirit,  we  may  not  expect  the 
day  to  dawn  when  in  practice  as  well  as  in  theory,  re- 
sponsibility will  be  the  watchword  of  our  everyday  ex- 
istence. 

(d)  Fearlessness  —  Simplicity 

As  I  write,  the  realization  is  forced  upon  me  that  while 
it  is  a  simple  thing  to  talk  of  fearlessness 
ancl  its  value  in  tne  make-uP  of  tne  teacher, 


the  Doctrine      it  is  at  the  same  time  a  difficult  task  to  prac- 

ne§8  tise    this    fearlessness    and    this    simplicity. 

Here  again,  only  the  absolutely  honest,  open- 

minded,  responsible  person  can  be  absolutely  fearless  in 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     245 

matters  of  principle;  able  to  stand  against  criticism  and 

slander   and  censure  and  wrong;  willing  to  be  on  the 

"losing  side"   to  maintain  the  right.     To  be    fearless 

means  that  one  must  practise  simplicity,  live  the  simple 

life,  and  if  this  be  the  aim  of  the  teacher,  he  must  be 

himselj,  and  not  merely  an  imitator. 

It  is  no  easy  matter  to  be  fearless,  to  be  simple,  to  be 

oneself.     Each    personality  is    the    person- 

Sute^ioi*1  ality  of  the  one  to  wnom  it;  belongs.  This 
conditions  personality  cannot  be  defined;  it  is  the  you 
as  you.  "Human  imagination  has  never 
fathomed  the  depth  of  human  possibility; "  but  only  as  a 
teacher  is  fearless,  lives  his  own  life,  is  himself  in  sim- 
plicity and  truth,  can  he  be  other  than  an  imitator. 

"By  thine  own  soul's  law  learn  to  live; 
And  if  men  thwart  thee,  take  no  heed; 
And  if  men  hate  thee,  take  no  care; 
Sing  thine  own  song  and  do  thy  deed." 

Be  not  conventional,  live  your  own  life,  act  your  own 
part,  be  fearless  for  the  right  and  in  what  you  believe 
for  the  best  welfare  of  those  for  whom  you  are  respon- 
sible; stand  for  something  and  for  a  principle  and  for 
yourself. 

This  story  is  told  of  Dor£,  the  famous  painter,  when 
at  one  time  he  was  in  the  Swiss  Alps.  As  he  stood  one 
day  upon  a  mountain  crest,  seeking  a  spot  from  which 
to  sketch  his  picture,  he  was  approached  by  a  keeper  of 
the  mountains  and  told  that  he  could  not  remain.  "But," 
said  Dore",  "I  mean  no  harm.  I  am  an  artist."  "You 


246  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

must  move  on,"  said  the  keeper.  "I  am  Dore,"  replied 
the  artist;  "see,  here  is  my  easel,  these  are  my  brushes 
and  palette;  I  would  paint  this  scene."  "No,"  replied 
the  keeper,  "you  are  not  Dore".  You  must  away.  If 
you  are  Dore,  paint  for  me  this  view."  Then  Dore 
took  his  brush,  and  with  a  few  strokes  of  his  master  hand 
there  lived  upon  the  canvas,  mountain  and  valley,  tree 
and  sky,  so  real  as  to  leave  no  room  for  doubt.  Rapt 
with  wonder  and  admiration  the  keeper  said:  "You 
are  Dore.  No  one  but  Dore  could  do  that.  You  may 
stay." 

(e)  Tactfulness 

The  teacher  without  tact  is  not  a  teacher.  Seem- 
ingly insurmountable  difficulties  may  be  conquered  if  the 
teacher  possesses  what  we  speak  of  as  a  tactful  disposition. 
By  tact  is  meant  not  simply  the  ability  to  say  and  do 
those  things  that  please  the  hearer,  but  the 
Quick  Action  ability,  natural  or  acquired,  to  say  and  do 
and  Eight  the  right  thing  on  a  given  occasion.  In 

Action  '     . 

conversation,  in  business,  in  society,  in  the 
professional  world,  everywhere  is  there  trouble  and  dis- 
cord and  discontent  and  misunderstanding  because  of 
lack  of  tact  on  the  part  of  this  or  that  individual.  While 
tact  is  necessary  in  successful  dealing  with  men,  it  is 
much  more  essential  in  successful  dealing  with  pupils; 
and  if  the  teacher  does  not  possess  the  intuitive,  tactful 
sense,  he  must  endeavor  to  cultivate  it. 
Children  are  oftentimes  quick  to  resent  a  seeming 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     247 

wrong  when  no  wrong  is  intended;  they  are  not  always 
amenable  to  the  same  line  of  argument  or  to  the  same 
kind  and  character  of  discipline  or  educational  method; 
the  home  life,  the  street  and  playground  existence  and  the 
school  atmosphere  differ  widely  one  from  the  other;  the 
parent  deals  with  the  pupil  in  a  different  manner  than 
does  the  teacher;  all  these  reasons  combine  to  make  it 
essential  that  the  teacher  use  reason  and  judgment  and 
tact  in  his  work,  else  there  will  likely  be  open  revolt  or 
secret  discontent,  or  progress  be  less  rapid  than  could  be 
desired. 

Lack  of  tact  on  the  teacher's  part  results  frequently 
in  lack  of  cooperation  between  parent  and  school  author- 
ities. The  pupil  will  often  report  to  his  teacher  that 
father  or  mother  was  taught  so  and  so, 
Right  word"  anc^  that  their  experience  dictates  a  method 
in  Dealing  verv  unlike  the  one  advised  by  text  or  teacher. 

with  Parents  . 

If  the  teacher  under  such  conditions  uses 
tact  and  judgment,  he  may  avoid  any  attempt  at  contro- 
versy, leave  the  pupil  with  confidence  in  parents  and 
school  methods  alike,  and  gam,  rather  than  lose,  the 
support  of  the  home. 

Often,  too,  the  pupil  is  in  a  disturbed  mental  and  phys- 
ical condition,  unknown  to  himself  perhaps.  The  ordi- 
nary manner  of  dealing  with  him  will  not  bring  results, 
and  the  teacher  must  be  quick  to  grasp  the  situation  and 
ready  to  meet  the  emergency  of  the  moment. 

Letters  from  parents  or  oral  communications  sent  by 
pupils  are  often  of  the  nature  to  bring  quick,  impulsive 


248  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

retorts  from  the  teacher.  It  is  seldom  wise  to  reply  in  a 
spirit  of  retaliation,  as  the  tactful  thing  said  in  the  right 
way  may  gain  rather  than  lose  the  parent  as  an  ally  of 
the  school. 

The  writer  calls  to  mind  an  incident  which  illustrates 
the  extremity  in  which  a  teacher  may  find  himself  if  he 
is  less  than  tactful.    A  village  graded  school, 
tion  l  in   which   he   was    associated    with   several 

other  teachers,  was  built  with  chimneys 
lower  than  the  gable  of  the  roof,  and  as  a  result  on  windy 
days,  the  smoke  was  drawn  down  the  chimney,  and  one 
or  another  room  was  uncomfortable  in  consequence. 
Frequent  appeals  to  the  Board  seemed  to  be  of  no  avail; 
and  one  day,  before  the  intermission,  the  smoke  so  filled 
certain  rooms  that  it  was  decided  to  dismiss  school  should 
the  trouble  not  abate.  When  the  session  began,  how- 
ever, the  wind  had  so  changed  that  little  indication  of 
smoke  remained,  and  the  pupils  under  the  writer's  im- 
mediate charge  were  allowed  to  determine  whether  this 
condition  should  be  endured  or  the  windows  opened  to 
relieve  immediately  the  situation.  The  weather  being  ex- 
tremely cold,  the  former  alternative  was  chosen  and  all 
went  well  until  some  one  began  a  slight  cough.  This  was 
soon  taken  up  by  another  and  another  until  the  whole 
room  was  engaged  in  a  violent  fit  of  coughing. 

Realizing  the  futility  of  an  attempt  to  put  an  end  to 
a  cough,  as  such  a  demonstration  is  as  legitimate  as  is 
winking  or  swallowing,  the  question  of  what  was  to  be 
done  was  of  chief  concern.  If  the  pupils  gained  their 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH    249 

point,  viz.,  were  able  to  draw  the  teacher  into  a  threat 
or  entreaty,  the  power  of  the  latter  would  be  weakened. 
Suddenly  the  teacher  found  it  necessary  to  cough,  lightly 
at  first,  but  soon  more  and  more,  until  he  with  difficulty 
announced  the  raising  of  a  window  a  necessity.  The 
smoke  continued  to  affect  him;  and  the  windows,  one 
after  another,  were  raised  until  pupil  after  pupil  asked 
permission  to  procure  coat  or  wrap;  their  requests  were 
granted,  of  course.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  long  ere  this, 
all  coughing  on  the  pupils'  part  had  ceased;  but  the  teacher, 
still  continuing  to  be  irritated  by  the  smoke,  kept  up 
the  play  until  warned  by  the  shivering  pupils  it  would 
be  unsafe  to  do  so  longer.  Later,  at  the  noon  hour,  a 
group  of  interested  pupils  were  heard  discussing  the 
matter.  Some  insisted  the  presence  of  the  smoke  made 
necessary  the  coughing  by  the  teacher,  but  others  were 
just  as  certain  there  was  another  reason  for  his  action. 
Discipline  in  the  room  was  a  simple  matter  thereafter. 

(f)  Willingness  to  Practise  the  Gospel  of  Work 

People  may  be  classed,  first,  as  those  always  willing 
to  help,  and  second,  those  just  as  willing  to  receive  assist- 
ance. Those  of  the  first  class  are  workers.  They  are  the 
men  and  women  who  accomplish  things,  who  approach 
a  task,  not  in  a  half-hearted  way,  but  who  enter  with 
their  full  strength  and  energy  into  its  accomplishment. 

To-day  I  rode  down  street  with  a  busy  professional 
man.  He  inquired  from  house  to  house  for  a  family 
of  whom  he  was  in  search,  that  he  might  give  them 


250  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

books  and  magazines  of  which  they  were  in  need.  A 
man  who  resided  next  door  to  this  almost 
destitute  family  could  give  us  no  infor- 


otnerscom-      mation.     From  the  carriage   I  watched  this 

menda/ble 

man  as  he  walked  to  his  business.  Seeing 
a  morning  paper  upon  a  lawn,  he  made  his  way  to  it 
and  scanned  the  headlines;  and  starting  on,  he  took 
from  his  pocket  a  pair  of  scissors  and  clipped  roses 
from  the  bushes  of  private  owners  as  he  passed  along. 
Here  were  the  two  types,  —  the  professional 
man  wn°>  out  of  a  busy  day,  found  time  to 
help  the  less  fortunate  than  himself,  and  the 
man  unacquainted  with  his  neighbor,  willing  to  read  the 
morning  paper  of  another  and  to  pick  flowers  not  intended 
for  him. 

Work  is  the  secret  of  success.  The  teacher  who  has 
an  "easy  time"  will  not  succeed;  and  the  one  who  returns 
home  at  night  care  free  and  without  weariness  may  be 
envied,  but  has  certainly  not  been  accomplishing  the 
most  of  which  he  is  capable. 

Work,  too,  is  the  secret  of  happiness.     None  is  so 
miserable   as  he   without  work.     Optimism 

Work,  not  j     i  •  t  ^  _.  •  • 

Leisure,  Con-     anc*    happiness    come    from    active    partici- 


pation  in   life's  battles.    It   will  do   every 

Happiness 

teacher  good  to  feel  that  work 

"  ....  is  the  shape  forever  set  between 
The  thought  and  form,  the  vision  and  the  deed; 
The  hidden  light,  the  glory  all  unseen, 
I  bring  to  mortal  senses,  mortal  need. 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     251 

"  Who  loves  me  not,  my  sorrowing  slave  shall  be, 
Bent  with  a  burden,  knowing  oft  the  rod; 
But  he  who  loves  me  shall  my  Master  be, 
And  use  me  with  the  joyance  of  a  God. 

"  Man's  lord  or  servant,  still  I  am  his  friend; 
Desire  for  me  is  simple  as  his  breath; 
Yea,  waiting  old  and  toilless  for  the  end, 
He  prays  that  he  may  find  me  after  death." 

But  after  all,  the  best  work  can  be  done  by  the  teacher 
who  has  learned  the  art  of  play  and  who  practises  the 
Periods  of  gospel  of  work  as  well.  It  is  the  halfway 
Eeiaxation  measures  that  do  not  lead  to  success.  Pe- 
GreatAc-  riods  of  absolute  change  and  relaxation  are 


essential  to  successful  accomplishment.  Spen- 

ment  r  . 

cer  says:  "Hereafter,  when  this  age  of  active 
material  progress  has  yielded  mankind  its  benefits,  there 
will,  I  think,  come  a  better  adjustment  of  labor  and  en- 
joyment. Among  reasons  for  thinking  this,  there  is  the 
reason  that  the  progress  of  evolution  throughout  the  or- 
ganic world  at  large,  brings  an  increasing  surplus  of  ener- 
gies that  are  not  absorbed  in  fulfilling  material  needs, 
and  points  to  a  still  larger  surplus  for  the  humanity  of 
the  future  ...  In  brief,  I  may  say  that  we  have  had 
somewhat  too  much  of  'the  gospel  of  work.'  It  is  time 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  relaxation."  * 

This  "gospel  of  relaxation"  of  which  Spencer  speaks, 
should  be  heeded  more  particularly  by  the  workers. 
It  is  practised  altogether  too  strenuously  by  the  majority 
of  the  others.  Keeping  at  it  steadily,  continuous  work 

*  Essays,  "  The  Americans." 


252  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

with  sufficient  relaxation,  a  determination  to  stick  to  the 
thing,  will  bring  success.  This  success  will  come,  not 
in  overburdening  the  mind  or  in  consuming  the  time 
with  useless  details,  but  in  carefully  selecting  the  main 
issues  and  hi  looking  after  the  little  things  of  impor- 
tance. 

You  recall  that  story  of  the  man,  who  in  the  morn- 
ing of  life  set  out  to  win  success.  With  face  toward 
the  mountain  top  and  a  determination  to  reach  the  sum- 
mit, where  to  his  mind,  success  awaited 
him,  he  traveled  on.  Small  duties  were 


successes;-      pushed    aside,    trivial    obligations   were    ig- 

niustration  ...          °, 

nored  as  he  journeyed.  The  meridian  of 
life  was  passed  and  the  declining  sun  bespoke  the  even- 
ing of  his  earthly  span,  but  still  he  pushed  on,  and 
an  old  man  now,  weary  and  white  with  years,  he  saw 
at  last  before  him  the  mountain  peak  of  his  desire. 
And  as  by  a  final  effort  he  reached  the  crest,  and  worn 
and  spent  he  paused  to  rest,  a  form  approached  him  and 
said,  "What  seek  ye?"  And  the  man  replied,  "I  have 
toiled  and  climbed  that  I  might  win  success.  Day  by 
day  and  year  after  year  have  I  labored  and  at  last  the 
heights  are  gained.  Tell  me,  where  may  success  be 
found?"  "Alas,"  came  the  answer,  "in  your  great 
desire  for  success  you  have  missed  her.  Ignoring  all 
that  goes  to  make  life  great  and  successful  and  worth 
while,  you  have  cast  aside  the  gems  that  when  assembled 
would  form  the  crown;  see  yonder  along  the  path  by 
which  you  came;"  and  looking  far,  far  below,  through 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     253 

the  evening  light  to  the  valley,  success  could  be  seen 
shining  from  a  thousand  hills. 

(g)  Order  and  System 

Our  one  great  cry  is  lack  0}  time.  There  is  so  much 
to  do  and  so  little  time  in  which  to  accomplish  it. 
Teachers  are  constantly  deploring  the  fact  that  they  lack 
time  in  which  to  perform  properly  necessary 
The  value  tasks,  or  to  teach  adequately  even  the  ele- 
ments of  a  given  subject.  It  is  true  that 
we  may  expect  too  much  of  a  pupil  or  a  teacher,  and  it 
is  just  as  true  that  waste  of  time  should  be  considered 
as  is  waste  of  energy  in  a  machine.  The  maximum  of 
work  for  a  minimum  of  energy  expended  is  always  of 
first  consideration  to  the  man  at  the  governor.  The  max- 
imum of  accomplishment,  with  understanding,  in  the 
shortest  space  of  time  and  with  the  best  results  to  the 
individual  should  be  the  aim. 

Method  is  a  mighty  time  saver.  The  teacher  who 
proceeds  methodically,  who  is  orderly  and  systematic 
and  who  plans  his  lessons  with  the  same 
^ty  as  the  engineer  plans  his  project, 
or  the  architect  his  house,  and  who  tries 
to  find  a  reason  for  each  step  he  takes,  will  accomplish 
much  more  than  he  who  is  unsystematic  and  relies  upon 
circumstances  to  point  him  his  method  of  procedure. 

The  teacher  who  is  careless  and  haphazard  will  al- 
ways be  behind  time.  No  one  doubts  for  a  moment  the 
ability  of  a  great  corporation  to  carry  on  a  business 


254  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

successfully;  and  no  one  doubts  that  it  is  in  the  great 
corporation  that  most  use  is  made  of  labor 
an<^  time-saving  devices,  and  that  every  ef- 
fort militates  in  the  direction  of  the  largest 
output.  It  would  be  an  object  lesson  to  the  careless, 
unsystematic  teacher  to  visit  a  large,  successful  man- 
ufacturing plant  and  note  how  each  workman  has  his 
allotted  task  to  perform.  His  tools  are  sharp  and  of  the 
best  pattern,  the  equipment  he  uses  is  placed  in  posi- 
tions of  the  greatest  advantage,  and  every  implement 
or  piece  of  material  he  manipulates  has  its  own  particular 
place.  The  thing  done  quickest  is  not  necessarily  that 
which  saves  most  time;  so  each  tool,  after  use,  is  returned 
to  its  respective  place,  that  it  may  be  found  without 
delay  when  again  required. 

Regularity  and  punctuality  are  essential  to  large  accom- 
plishment. Begin  on  time  and — close  promptly.  Have 
a  time  for  everything.  Have  a  plan  and  work  to  it. 
A  few  minutes  given  regularly  to  a  task  will  soon  bring 
returns.  An  education  may  be  secured  by  utilizing  the 
time  that  is  absolutely  wasted.  f 

One  of  the  most  successful  business  men  of  the  country 
told  me  recently  that  it  is  the  policy  of  one  of  his  busi- 
ness acquaintances  to  excuse  no  associate  or  employee 
who  "misses  a  train."  There  is,  he  says,  no  excuse 
for  missing  a  train.  An  accident  may  delay  a  train  upon 
which  one  is  riding,  but  to  miss  a  train  when  in  full 
knowledge  of  the  time  of  departure  is  something  not  to 
be  excused, 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     255 

Do  not  let  your  work  crowd  you;  crowd  your  work. 
Don't  get  behind.  "Do  it  now"  is  a  good  maxim  to  fol- 
low. If  several  interests  are  being  pursued  at  a  given 
time,  one  main  issue  should  always  be  kept  in  view.  Be 
thorough,  be  exact,  be  orderly  and  save  time  by  having  a 
carefully  tried  plan;  thus  you  will  accomplish  much. 

(h)  Discrimination,  Concentration,  Judgment 

Not  because  it  is  the  least  important  of  the  several 
qualities  mentioned  is  that  of  discrimination  placed  last 
in  the  list.  An  analytic,  discriminating  mind  is  indis- 
pensable to  the  most  successful  teaching.  An  ability  to 
see  things  in  their  proper  perspective,  to  place  fair  esti- 
mates, to  calculate  just  proportions,  in  fact  to  have  that 
delicate  poise  and  balance  without  which  the  elusive  thing 
called  judgment  is  impossible,  these  are  of  the  utmost 
value,  and  indispensable  to  large  success  in  any  field  of 
human  activity. 

What  has  been  spoken  of  as  open-mindedness,  and  an 
appreciation  of  order  and  system,  go  far  toward  building 
up  the  sense  of  discrimination.  Truly  the  discriminating 
mind  is  apt  to  be  the  broad  mind.  To  dis- 
criminate  one  must  lose  sight  of  the  petty 


port  should       things  of  life,  he  must  pick  out  the  great  from 

Hold  the 

stage  the  trivial,  he  must  accept  circumstances  as 

they  are  thrust  upon  him,  not  in  the  spirit  of 
helplessness,  but  only  to  conquer  and  free  himself  from 
the  bondage  of  annoyance  and  grievances;  he  must  rise 
superior  to  difficulties,  and  gain  that  calm  repose  of  spirit 


256  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

that  carries  with  it  the  power  of  achievement  and  of 
conviction  among  his  fellows.  Strength  of  purpose  is  rec- 
ognized in  such  a  mind,  and  its  possessor  gains  the  con- 
fidence, love  and  loyalty  of  his  pupils.  Unless  the  teacher 
is  discriminating,  has  good  judgment  and  uses 
^>  ne  cannot  hope  to  appreciate  the  viewpoint 


thy  Essential     of  the  pupil.    He  must  keep  fresh  and  sympa- 

in  a  Teacher  ,   J  , 

thetic  and  be  ever  ready  to  receive  the  best. 
If  the  teacher  is  happy  and  hopeful,  his  pupils  will  be  so. 
The  pessimist  casts  a  gloom  upon  all  about  him,  and  the 
pupils  under  such  a  teacher  long  for  the  freedom  of  the 
active  world. 

"The  pessimist,  all  steeped  in  woe, 
Sits  down  and  mourns, 
Because  no  fragrant  rose  can  blow 
Without  its  thorns. 
The  optimist  shouts  gleefully 
Because  he  knows 

That  where  the  thorns  are  growing,  he 
May  find  the  rose." 

By  judgment  I  mean  not  only  quick  judgment  but 
clear  judgment.  That  weighing  of  values,  that  clear,  un- 
biased discrimination,  or  rather  lack  of  it,  was  admirably 

illustrated  in  a  recent  convention  of  teachers. 
An  Example  An  able  paper,  touching  the  possible  elimina- 

tions  from  the  curricula  of  the  grammar  and 


high  schools,  had  been  presented;  and  able 
men  and  women  had  been  chosen  to  lead  the  discussion. 
The  first  speaker  agreed  with  the  general  tenor  of  the 
paper;  he  would  eliminate  much  of  the  work  as  now  taken 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     257 

up,  but  there  was  one  school  subject  that  must  not  be 
given  a  shorter  time  allowance  on  the  program;  in  fact,  he 
favored  an  increase  of  time,  and  as  he  proceeded  in  his 
argument  we  learned  he  was  a  specialist  in  the  line  he 
sought  to  magnify.  Another  speaker  held  views  of  similar 
character  regarding  the  curriculum  in  general,  but  stoutly 
held  for  an  increased  time  allowance  in  one  subject,  this 
finally  proving  to  be  the  one  he  was  teaching;  and  still 
others  followed,  all  specialists,  and  fearful  lest  too  little 
time  be  devoted  to  their  respective  specialities  while  ignor- 
ing the  value  and  claims  of  allied  work. 

This  appreciation  of  values,  this  tendency  toward  dis- 
crimination, and  clearness   and  readiness  in  judgment, 
these  traits  of  character  have  not  come  by 
accident;  and  however  much  we  may  owe  to 
heredity,  education  is  made  up  of  several  parts 

Growing  .    .    J'  r 

Minds  training,  and  the  power  of  concentration,  if 

not  acquired,  can  be  developed  and  trained. 
Ability  to  concentrate,  to  hold  the  mind  and  body  to  the 
completion  of  a  task,  carries  with  it  the  power  of  accom- 
plishment. Concentration,  followed  by  a  wise  discrimina- 
tion and  a  judgment  unhampered  by  prejudice,  is  what 
produces  the  great  mind  whether  it  be  that  of  the  master 
merchant,  the  deep  philosopher,  the  wise  philanthropist, 
the  trusted  workman  or  the  skillful  teacher. 

Such  are  the  elements  that  enter  into  the  training  of  the 
teacher  and  that  constitute  his  professional  growth.  Edu- 
cation is  the  best  life  insurance  policy  that  can  be  secured, 
and  a  true  education  is  dependent  upon  these  elements  as 

Standards — 17 


258  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

a  foundation.  If  a  teacher  builds  upon  these  essentials 
of  growth,  he  will  be  progressive,  not  like  the  Scotchman, 
one  of  a  company  gathered  to  discuss  the  ditching  of  a 
certain  moor  that  it  might  be  converted  into  tillable  land. 
After  many  reasons  had  been  advanced  in  favor  of  the 
movement,  a  member  of  the  meeting  arose  and  at  the 
close  of  his  speech  offered  the  following  argument  as 
conclusive  evidence  against  the  project:  "This  moor,"  said 
he,  "has  been  here  since  time  immemorial." 
Education  comes  sometimes  hi  spite  of  the  school.  We 
may  each  think  differently  as  to  education, 
but  when  the  evidence  is  all  in  and  the  various 


may  be  vie-  opinions  analyzed,  they  will  be  found  pretty 
much  the  same  after  all.  It  is  the  best  edu- 
cated man  who  can  use  all  he  has,  in  whatever  that  all 
may  consist;  it  is  he  who  has  judgment,  who  has  grasped 
his  subjects,  and  has  poise  and  breadth.  The  best  edu- 
cated man  is  he  who  with  discernment  and  with  his 
appreciative  quality  of  mind  makes  opportunity,  or  sees 
the  opportunity  offered,  and  uses  it  to  worthy  ends.  The 
thought  is  expressed  in  these  lines  entitled  Opportunity, 
by  John  J.  Ingalls. 

"Master  of  human  destinies  am  I! 
Fame,  love  and  fortune  on  my  footsteps  wait, 
Cities  and  fields  I  walk  :  I  penetrate 
Deserts  and  seas  remote,  and  passing  by 
Hovel  and  mart  and  palace,  soon  or  late 
I  knock  unbidden  once  at  every  gate! 
If  feasting,  rise;  if  sleeping,  wake  before 
I  turn  away.    It  is  the  hour  of  fate, 
And  they  who  follow  me  reach  every  state 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     259 

Mortals  desire,  and  conquer  every  foe 
Save  death.    But  those  who  doubt  or  hesitate, 
Condemned  to  failure,  penury  and  woe, 
Seek  me  in  vain  and  ceaselessly  implore; 
I  answer  not  and  I  return  no  more." 

H.   THE  RECOMPENSE 

And  what  of  the  rewards  of  the  teacher?  Is  his  recom- 
pense to  be  reckoned  hi  terms  of  dollars  and  cents?  The 
laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  and  it  is  quite  legitimate 
indeed  that  a  teacher  consider  financial  remuneration. 
No  one  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  teacher's  work 
and  what  is  expected  of  him  and  what  accomplished  by  him, 
would  for  a  moment  question  the  inadequacy  of  salaries 
paid.  But  material  gain  is  only  one  and  certainly  not  the 
chief  element  to  be  considered,  for  if  salary  was  the  item 
of  prime  concern,  the  great  mass  of  our  teachers  would 
soon  engage  in  more  lucrative  undertakings.  Kipling 
gives  the  lie  to  the  belief  that  all  teachers  are  in  the  work 
for  what  they  get  out  of  it  financially,  when  he  says  in  his 
characteristic  manner: 

"If  teaching  was  what  teaching  seems 
And  not  the  teaching  of  our  dreams, 
But  only  putty,  brass,  and  paint, 
How  quick  we'd  drop  her!    But  she  ain't!" 

Honor  and  position  are  considerations  worthy  our 
attention,  but  while  these  are  desirable,  the  teacher 
cannot  be  fully  paid  in  coin  of  such  standard.  While 
respected  always  and  usually  considered  a  leader,  there 
are  those  who  still  look  upon  the  teacher  as  a  servant 


260  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

• .  . 

merely,  a  workman  with  his  books  for  tools  and  his  mis- 
sion to  deal  out  facts,  to  correct  errors  and  to  enforce 
discipline.  Honor  and  position  certainly  do  not  call  our 
best  teachers  to  the  work,  or  keep  them  in  the  educa- 
tional arena,  and  can  furnish  no  adequate  recompense 
for  labors  performed.  The  teacher's  recompense  must . 
lie  elsewhere.  It  must  lie  in  a  knowledge  of  things  at- 
tempted and  a  hope  of  results  achieved.  These  results 
may  not  seem  to  be  as  far-reaching  as  could  be  desired 
or  as  apparent  as  would  be  the  case  in  the  world  of  in- 
dustry or  commerce  or  finance,  but  the  knowledge  of 
things  attempted  and  the  faith  in  final  success  should 
prove  to  every  teacher  the  value  of  his  efforts  and  warrant 
him  in  being  steadfast  hi  the  belief  that  he  who  molds 
the  man  is  greater  than  he  who  plans  and  builds  and 
achieves  in  the  material  world,  and  that  his  work  is  the 
more  enduring.  In  casting  up  his  accounts,  the  true 
teacher  will  be  able  to  say: 

"My  struggling  soul  may  never  gain  the  prize 

It  covets  so; 
It  may  not  reach  the  gates  of  Paradise 

At  sunset's  glow; 
But  I  have  faith  that  in  the  shadows  blue 

At  set  of  sun, 
I  shall  be  judged  by  what  I've  tried  to  do, 

Not  what  I've  done." 

Is  the  future  of  our  schools  in  the  hands  of  the  teachers  ? 
Perhaps  not.  But  the  teacher  will  receive  his  recompense 
if  the  life  he  lives  is  an  example  to  his  pupils  and  to  the 
world.  And  what  is  it  to  be  a  teacher  that  the  recompense 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH    261 

may  be  his?  To  be  rich  in  book  knowledge ?  To  be  able 
to  impart  information  to  others?  It  means  this  and  it 
means  more.  To  be  honest,  to  be  helpful,  to  be  happy; 
to  love  books  and  nature,  play  and  work;  to  be  sympa- 
thetic in  spirit,  wise  in  counsel,  calm  in  judgment;  to  be 
teachable  and  tolerant,  firm  and  impartial;  to  be  grateful 
for  the  past,  hopeful  for  the  future  and  reverent  toward 
all  that  is;  to  have  ideas  and  to  reach  out  toward  the  best; 
to  take  counsel  of  the  wise  whether  young  or  old,  rich  or 
poor,  high  or  low;  to  help  rather  than  hinder,  and  to 
encourage  not  dishearten;  to  dare  nothing  selfish,  or 
vicious,  or  unworthy;  to  be  joyous  and  optimistic  always, 
and  to  practise  that  freshness  of  disposition  and  exemplify 
that  strength  of  purpose  that  makes  each  feel  that  his  own 
life  is  beating  in  unison  with  the  heart  throbs  of  a  uni- 
verse;— this  it  means.  To  approach  the  ideal  our  views 
must  be  broad  and  tolerant,  our  patience  without  limit, 
our  energy  great  and  our  interest  in  the  work  and  love  for 
the  child  deep  and  abiding. 

THESES 

1.  Psychology  is  of  value  in  teaching  when  its  laws  are 
known  and  applied. 

2.  Experience  is  necessary,  but  it  is  not  the  only  teacher. 

3.  The  academic  atmosphere  of  the  secondary  school 
and  the  professional  atmosphere  of  the  normal  school 
contrasted. 

4.  To  grow,  the  teacher  must  read  good  books,  and 
choose  worthy  associates. 


262  STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 

5.  The  teacher  must  cultivate  high  moral  standards, 
keep  in  touch  with  industrial  progress,  and  educate  his 
finer  sensibilities. 

6.  The  value  of  "outside"  school  courses. 

7.  Honesty,  open-mindedness,  responsibility,  fearless- 
ness and  simplicity,  tactfulness,  willingness  to  work,  order 
and  system,  discrimination,  concentration  and  judgment, 
— these  are  qualities  that  make  for  growth. 

8.  The  recompense  of  the  teacher  is  not  to  be  measured 
in  terms  of  dollars  and  cents  or  in  social  or  civic  or  pro- 
fessional preferment,  but  in  a  knowledge  of  good  ac- 
complished. 

TOPICS   FOR  STUDY 

1.  Consider  the  relative  merits  of  a  two  years'  profes- 
sional course  for  high  school  graduates,  and  a  four  years' 
course  including  high  school  work. 

2.  What  are  the  advantages  of  dividing  the  normal 
school  year  into  two  terms?    Three  terms? 

3.  When  a  teacher  possesses  both   college  and  pro- 
fessional training,  which  should  precede? 

4.  Classify  the  various  educational  texts  upon  the  basis 
of  treatment  of  subject-matter  or  method. 

5.  Make  a  classification  of  the  five  most  helpful  books 
on  psychology;  on  pedagogy,  on  general  education. 

6.  Analyze  the  programs  of  five  typical  normal  schools 
and  list  the  relative  number  of  hours  given  to  psychology, 
pedagogy,  history  of  education,  school  management,  prac- 
tise-teaching,  observation  and  criticism. 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH    263 

7.  Make  a  list  of  the  ten  books  other  than  those  of  a  ped- 
agogic character,  that  you  would  recommend  for  teachers. 

8.  Discuss  fully  the  danger  to  a  teacher  who  devotes 
much  time  to  outside  interests.     Consider  in  the  same  way 
the  teacher  who  centers  his  whole  attention  upon  his  school 
work. 

9.  How  may  the  teacher  best  lead  the  pupils  to  an 
appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  moral,  industrial  and 
aesthetic  understanding  ? 

10.  Study  carefully  the  courses  offered  in  a  correspond- 
ence school.    Gather  statistics  as  to  numbers  enrolled  in 
these  courses. 

11.  What  is  your  experience  and  observation  of  the  dan- 
ger of  overwork  on  the  part  of  both  teachers  and  pupils  ? 

12.  Are  teachers  as  a  rule  open  to  conviction,  or  are 
they  disinclined  to  receive  new  light  ? 

13.  Is  the  prevailing  tendency  toward  simplicity  of  life 
or  the  reverse?    What  are  the  contributing  causes? 

14.  Show  how  the  school  may  help  to  inculcate  the  idea 
of  the  necessity  for  responsibility. 

15.  Discriminate  clearly  between  tact,  and  methods  that 
may  be  questionable  and  open  to  adverse  criticism. 

•  1 6.  In  what  particulars  may  the  teacher  and  parent 
work  together  for  mutual  benefit  ? 

17.  Make  a  list  of  those  who  have  accomplished  great 
good  in  various  fields  of  human  activity.  What  of  their 
periods  of  work  and  relaxation?  Have  they  been  broad 
in  their  interests  or  has  the  particular  speciality  been 
prominent  in  every  case  ? 


264 


STANDARDS  IN  EDUCATION 


1 8.  Go  over  your  own  work  and  habits  to  determine 
how  and  where  you  can  with  profit  be  more  accurate, 
methodical  and  systematic. 

19.  Are  we  inclined   to   overemphasize   the  value   of 
punctuality  and  attendance  at  school? 

20.  Arrange  a  program  of  studies  for  each  grade  with 
time  allotment,  giving  attention  to  relative  value  of  sub- 
jects. 

21.  Many  of  the  world's  great  men  have  become  so 
without  the  help  of  the  school.    Present  both  sides  of  the 
question  suggested. 

22.  Study  the  salary  question  and  compare  with  wages 
received  by  men  and  women  in  other  lines  of  work. 

23.  Given  that  the  teacher's  services  are  not  recog- 
nized as  they  should  be,  from  a  financial  point  of  view, 
in  what  estimation  is  the  profession  held  by  the  world  at 
large  ? 

CONSULT 

BARR  Reasons     why     Men     are     Leaving     School 

Work,  etc.    Council  of  Education,  California 
Teachers  Association,  1906. 

BRUMBAUGH    The  Making  of  a  Teacher,  chap.  17. 

GIFFIN  School  Days  of  the  Fifties,  chap.  12. 

GORDY  New  Psychology,  chaps,  i,  2. 

GREENWOOD    Successful  Teaching,  pp.  27-51. 

HINSDALE        The  Art  of  Study,  chaps.  21,  22. 

The  Training  of  Teachers — Monograph  8,  on 
Education  in  the  United  States. 

JAMES  Talks  to  Teachers,  chap,  i,  also  pp.  191-301. 


THE  TEACHER:  TRAINING  AND  GROWTH     265 

KENTLAND  The  Teacher  and  the  State.  Proceedings,  Con- 
ference for  Education  in  the  South,  1903, 
pp. 168-176. 

MOORE  Science  of  Study,  pp.  153-232. 

O'SHEA  Value  of  Psychology  for  Teachers.    Elementary 

School  Teacher,  vol.  5,  pp.  129-141. 

PAGE  Theory  and  Practice. 

PARKER  Talks  on  Pedagogics,  especially  pp.  445-451. 

PUTNAM  Manual  of  Pedagogy,  chap.  12. 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  SALARIES,  etc.,  of  Teachers,  N. 
E.  A.,  1905. 

ROYCE  Outlines  of  Psychology,  chap.  i. 

SEELEY  Educational  Foundations,  chaps,  i,  2,  3  &  12. 

SMALL  Should  Teachers  be  Required  to  Present  Evi- 

dences of  Increased  Scholarship?  Proceed- 
ings, Department  Superintendence,  N.  E.  A., 
1904,  pp.  158-164. 

STOUT  Manual  of  Psychology,  chaps,  i,  2. 

THORNDIKE     Principles  of  Teaching,  chap.  i. 

VANCE  Best  Means  and  Methods  of  Improving  Teach- 

ers. Proceedings,  Department  Superintend- 
ence, N.  E.  A.,  1906,  pp.  102-108. 

VAN  SICKLE  Basis  for  Promotion  of  Teachers.  Proceedings, 
Department  Superintendence,  N.  E.  A., 
1906,  pp.  153-159- 

VINCENT  Summer  Schools  and  University  Extension — 
Monograph  16,  on  Education  in  the  United 
States. 

WHITE  Elements  of  Pedagogy,  pp.  210-215. 

School  Management,  pp.  0-43. 

WILSON  Pedagogues  and  Parents,  chap.  14. 


BOOKS    FOR    TEACHERS 

By    RURICK    N.    ROARK,    Ph.D.,    President    Eastern 
Kentucky  State  Normal  School,  Richmond,  Kentucky 


Psychology  in  Education      .  $1.00       Method  in  Education     .     .  $1.00 
Economy  in  Education   .     .  $1.00 


ROARK'S  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION  pre- 
sents such  a  clear  exposition  of  the  elementary  princi- 
ples of  psychology  and  their  practical  applications  in 
methods  of  education  as  to  furnish  a  logical  and   scientific 
basis  for  the  daily  work  in  the  class  room.     Intended  for  the 
average  teacher,  it  gives  a  full  and  logical  outline  by  which 
the  teacher  may  guide  his  study  and  lays  constant  emphasis 
upon  the  necessity  and  the  means  of  carrying  psychology  into 
the  schoolroom. 

^1  In  METHOD  IN  EDUCATION  the  author  develops 
in  detail  the  applications  of  psychology  in  the  work  of 
teaching.  He  discusses  the  principles  upon  which  good 
teaching  must  be  based,  and  also  the  means  of  making  the 
subjects  in  the  curriculum  produce  the  best  educational  results. 
Each  branch  of  study  usually  taught  in  elementary  schools  is 
taken  up  and  considered  separately,  and  much  hopeful  advice 
is  given,  supplemented  by  suggestive  outlines,  lesson  plans, 
and  topics. 

Tf  ECONOMY  IN  EDUCATION  deals  with  the  prob- 
lems confronting  the  individual  teacher  in  the  successful  ad- 
ministration of  his  school,  and  also  the  larger  problems  of  the 
school  as  a  part  of  the  institutional  life  and  growth  of  modern 
society.  It  discusses  the  problems  of  the  administration  of 
school  systems  and  such  matters  as  taxation,  boards  of 
education,  courses  of  study,  and  the  distinctive  work  of 
the  different  schools.  The  latest  movements  in  the  econom- 
ical correlation  of  the  home,  libraries,  museums,  and  art 
galleries  with  the  school  are  taken  up  at  some  length. 

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THE    ART    OF    STUDY 

By  B.  A.  HINSDALE,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D.,  late  Professor 
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of  Michigan. 

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THIS  book  for  teachers  aims  at  a  definite  end  :  To  teach 
pupils  how  to  study  rather  than  to  store  their  minds 
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^[  It  demonstrates  in  a  clear  and  logical  manner  the  true 
relations  which  should  exist  between  the  teacher  and  the 
pupil  in  the  schoolroom,  and  presents  practical  methods  by 
which  such  relations  may  be  established  and  maintained. 
As  learning  is  the  primary  act,  and  teaching  but  secondary, 
it  proposes  a  partial  readjustment  of  the  existing  relations 
between  the  teacher  and  the  pupil,  by  which  the  pupil  will 
become  the  distinct  and  proper  center  of  the  school  system, 
and  everything  else — teacher,  studies,  and  apparatus — sub- 
ordinate to  him. 

*[[  The  art  of  study  is  much  misunderstood  and  neglected, 
and  there  are  current  today  in  schools  many  conditions  which 
result  in  serious  defects  and  weaknesses  among  pupils. 
Many  pupils  fail  in  their  studies,  due  chiefly,  first  to  their 
ignorance  of  how  properly  to  attack  a  lesson;  and,  secondly, 
to  their  inability  to  sustain  the  attack  when  once  begun.  It 
too  often  happens  that  teachers  and  pupils  do  not  work 
together  in  the  true  spirit;  that  pupils  make  too  little  effort  to 
learn,  while  teachers  try,  apparently,  to  save  them  that 
trouble.  To  overcome  these  errors  and  attain  the  end  sought, 
the  author  demonstrates  the  proper  relations  that  should  exist 
between  them,  and  then  presents  methods  in  establishing  and 
maintaining  these  relations.  In  illustration  of  these  ideas,  a 
series  of  typical  study-recitations  is  given  in  the  book. 
^J  The  book  is  rich  in  practical  suggestions  for  the  guidance 
of  the  teacher,  and  devotes  several  chapters  to  rules  and  hints 
which  will  be  of  great  assistance  to  the  pupil  as  well. 

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HISTORY    OF    EDUCATION 

By  LEVI  SEELEY,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Pedagogy 
New  Jersey  State  Normal  School 


SEELEY'S  History  of  Education  is  a  working  book,  clear, 
comprehensive,  and  accurate,  and  sufficient  in  itself  to 
furnish  all  the  material  on  the  subject  that  is  required  by 
any  examining  board,  or  that  may  be  demanded  in  a  normal 
or  college  course. 

^[  Each  educational  system  that  has  influenced  the  world  is 
taken  up  and  summarized  in  turn,  its  development  shown, 
and  its  important  lesson  pointed  out.  The  fullest  information 
obtainable  is  presented  in  simple  form  and  expressed  in  con- 
cise language.  The  topics  are  arranged  on  a  well  defined 
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^|  In  addition,  the  book  includes  biographical  sketches  of  the 
great  educators  with  an  illuminating  account  of  their  systems 
of  pedagogy.  It  also  provides  a  general  outline  of  the 
educational  history  of  ancient  countries,  and  affords  com- 
parisons of  the  educational  systems  of  the  leading  countries 
down  to  the  present  time.  In  short,  the  volume  gives  the 
student  an  accurate  view  in  perspective  of  the  educational 
progress  of  the  world.  Extensive  bibliographies  of  works  for 
reference  are  provided. 

^[  The  work  presents  for  study  many  of  the  great  pedagogical 
problems  that  have  interested  thoughtful  men  in  every  age. 
It  shows  how  some  of  these  have  been  solved  in  the  past  and 
points  out  the  way  to  the  solution  of  others  of  no  less 
importance  in  the  near  future. 

^[  It  should  form  an  indispensable  volume  in  every  teacher's 
library,  for  it  not  only  is  inspiring,  but  furnishes  valuable 
information.  Every  well  informed  teacher  must  know  how 
the  past  has  taught  in  order  to  cope  intelligently  with  the 
educational  problems  of  today. 


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NEW  SERIES  OF  THE 
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^|  In  the  SCHOOL  GEOGRAPHY  a  special  feature  is 
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MILNE'S      PROGRESSIVE 
ARITHMETICS 

By  WILLIAM  J.  MILNE,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of 
New  York  State  Normal  College,  Albany,  N.  Y. 


THREE  BOOK.  SERIES 

First  Book $o.  3  5 

Second  Book 40 

Third  Book 45 


TWO  BOOK.  SERIES 

First  Book $°-35 

Complete  Book     .     .        .     .65 


IN  these  series  the  best  modern  methods  of  instruction  have 
been  combined  with  those  older  features  which  gave  the 
author's  previous  arithmetics  such  marvelous  popularity. 
^j  Built  upon  a  definite  pedagogical '  plan,  these  books  teach 
the  processes  of  arithmetic  in  such  a  way  as  to  develop  the 
reasoning  faculties,  and  to  train  the  power  of  rapid,  accurate, 
and  skillful  manipulation  of  numbers.     The  inductive  method 
is  applied,  leading  the  pupils  to  discover  truths  for  them- 
selves ;  but  it  is  supplemented  by  model  solutions  and  careful 
explanations  of  each  step. 

^[  Each  new  topic  is  first  carefully  developed,  and  then  en- 
forced by  sufficient  practice  to  fix  it  thoroughly  in  the  mind. 
The  problems,  which  have  been  framed  with  the  greatest  care, 
relate  to  a  wide  range  of  subjects  drawn  from  modern  life  and 
industries.  Reviews  in  various  forms  are  a  marked  feature. 
Usefulness  is  the  keynote. 

^j  In  the  First  and  Second  Books  the  amount  of  work  that 
may  be  accomplished  in  a  half  year  is  taken  as  the  unit  of 
classification,  and  the  various  subjects  are  treated  topically, 
each  being  preceded  by  a  brief  resume  of  the  concepts 
already  acquired.  In  the  Third  Book  the  purely  topical 
method  is  used  in  order  to  give  the  pupil  a  coherent 
knowledge  of  each  subject.  The  Complete  Book  covers 
the  work  usually  given  to  pupils  during  the  last  four  years 
of  school. 


AMERICAN     BOOK     COMPANY 


(57) 


STEPS   IN    ENGLISH 

By  A.  C.  McLEAN,  A.M.,  Principal  of  Luckey  School, 
Pittsburg;  THOMAS  C.  BLAISDELL,  A.M.,  Pro- 
fessor of  English,  Fifth  Avenue  Normal  High  School, 
Pittsburg;  and  JOHN  MORROW,  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  Allegheny,  Pa. 


Book  One.     For  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  years $0.40 

Book  Two.    For  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  years 60 


THIS  series  presents  a  new  method  of  teaching  language 
which  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the  antiquated  systems 
in  vogue  a  generation  ago.     The  books  meet  modern 
conditions  in  every  respect,  and  teach  the  child  how  to  ex- 
press his  thoughts  in  language  rather  than  furnish  an  undue 
amount  of  grammar  and  rules. 

^[  From  the  start  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  base  the  work 
on  subjects  in  which  the  child  is  genuinely  interested.  Lessons 
in  writing  language  are  employed  simultaneously  with  those  in 
conversation,  while  picture-study,  the  study  of  literary  selec- 
tions, and  letter-writing  are  presented  at  frequent  intervals. 
The  lessons  are  of  a  proper  length,  well  arranged,  and  well 
graded.  The  books  mark  out  the  daily  work  for  the  teacher 
in  a  clearly  defined  manner  by  telling  him  what  to  do,  and 
when  to  do  it.  Many  unique  mechanical  devices,  e.  g.,  a 
labor-saving  method  of  correcting  papers,  a  graphic  system  of 
diagramming,  etc.,  form  a  valuable  feature  of  the  work. 
^[  These  books  are  unlike  any  other  series  now  on  the 
market.  They  do  not  shoot  over  the  heads  of  the  pupils, 
nor  do  they  show  a  marked  effort  in  writing  down  to 
the  supposed  level  of  young  minds.  They  do  not  contain 
too  much  technical  grammar,  nor  are  they  filled  with  what 
is  sentimental  and  meaningless.  No  exaggerated  attention  is 
given  to  analyzing  by  diagramming,  and  to  exceptions  to  ordi- 
nary rules,  which  have  proved  so  unsatisfactory. 

AMERICAN     BOOK     COMPANY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 
EDUCATION  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9-10m-9,'69(N187088)4939A— 8,  59 


UCLA-ED/PSYCH  Library 

LB  1025  C355s 


L  005  586  1157 


